Jenny Rees - Composer

Jenny Rees was born in Cheshire in 1968. She started to learn the piano at the age of 9 and the clarinet at 10. She began to arrange pieces for the woodwind section of the Bristol Schools Symphony Orchestra of which she was a member, and composed a few simple pieces for woodwind and recorder groups. When she was 16, Jenny won the composition section of the Staple Hill Eisteddfod with a piece for solo soprano and piano. This inspired her to continue writing and resulted in a Sinfonietta for Wind Band completed in 1987 while she was studying at the Welsh College of Music and Drama (1986-1989). The college wind band gave the work its first performance at the Colston Hall in Bristol, resulting in a Radio Bristol interview and a favourable write-up in Winds magazine.

After 3 years studying the clarinet with Martin Ronchetti, Jenny graduated with a Performer’s Diploma and an award for her contribution to chamber music. The next 6 years were spent teaching with little compositional output. The years 1994 to 2002 brought marriage and the arrival of 4 children! In this period, Jenny gained an Open University honours degree in humanities with music and began composing again in 2000. This was followed shortly by success in a composition competition run by the Chard Festival of Music for women composers.

Jenny has recently completed a commission for the Bristol Brass Consort, to be performed in summer 2005. Jenny also performs with Jane Groves as The Berkeley Duo