Issie Barratt

Issie Barratt is an internationally active composer, arranger, conductor, baritone player, record producer and educator who has performed at a majority of leading concert halls, jazz clubs and festivals in Northern Europe, south east India, central America and the east coast of Canada. She has been awarded many commissions from ensembles that include the Philharmonia Orchestra, Delta Sax Quartet, 4th Dimension String Quartet, Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Bohuslän Big Band (Sweden),  Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Vortex Foundation Big Band, Conservatoires UK Big Band, the National Youth Jazz Collective, Royal Academy of Music’s Big Band, Royal Northern College of Music’s String ensemble, Trinity and Leeds Colleges’ Contemporary Jazz Ensembles,  with her music often featuring international acclaimed soloists such as Anders Bergcrantz, Gary Burton, Tim Garland, Suranjana Ghosh, Julian Joseph, Mark Lockheart, Joe Locke, Carl Rütti, Rowland Sutherland, Maggi Olin, Mike Outram, Steve Waterman and Annie Whitehead, frequently sharing the billing with fellow record label composers, Mike Gibbs and John Warren.

Issie’s music has been featured in many festivals and conferences, including the Cheltenham Jazz Festival’s 2001 Rising Star series, the Leeds International Jazz Conferences 2002-2007, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference 2008 in Toronto, Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2010, Montreux Jazz Festival 2010 and the International Real-time Music Symposium 2011 in Oslo.

Issie directs and composes for her own ensembles - A large ensemble comprising 21 of Europe’s leading jazz artists, with whom she recorded her highly acclaimed debut album Astral Pleasures  (produced by Mike Gibbs and released in August 2008 by Issie’s own record label, Fuzzy Moon Records) and a contemporary quartet comprising flute, clarinet, baritone sax and piano which released its debut album The Meinrad Iten Suite on Fuzzy Moon Records in 2011. Most of Issie’s scores and parts are available from Fuzzy Moon Music

Recordings of her compositions include

Show Time recorded by the Vortex Foundation Big Band on their debut CD Charybdis (2004)

Somehow with the Passage of Time recorded by Delta Sax Quartet for their album and tour Dedicated to you but you weren’t listening (2007)

Strange Fruit for the Bohuslän Big Band’s “Letter to Billie” album and Swedish Tour (2007)

Astral Pleasures  (A full album of original material for own 21 piece ensemble released in 2008)

Issie Barratt’s Meinrad Iten Suite: 11 musical settings of paintings by Meinrad Iten  (2011) recorded by Issie’s UK based quartet on Fuzzy Moon Records

In 2011 Issie was nominated for the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Awards for Artists

Issie is an extremely passionate and dedicated educator, setting up the highly successful Jazz Faculty at Trinity College of Music (London) in 1999, which she headed until 2004, when she was offered the post of Jazz Fellow, allowing her more time for her compositional and performance activities. A much sought after composition teacher, Issie continues to teach composition to undergraduate and post graduate conservatoire students, with her students regularly wining awards and prizes, such as the Dankworth Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011, BASCA’s new British Composer Award for jazz composition in 2010 and the Runswick Prize 2011 and 2012

 In 2006 Issie became the Founder and Executive Artistic Director of the National Youth Jazz Collective, working with 40 of the nations most inspirational jazz educators. She is also one of the five key tutors for the Sound and Music Summer School for Young Composers and adjudicator for Music for Youth’s National Festival of Music, Yamaha’s Jazz Experience, Watermill Jazz Young Composers Award and the Barbican/Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington; a Trustee of Jazz Heritage Wales;  founding Chair of the Jazz Executive for the British Association of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and an advisor for  Jazz Services‘ Educational Advisory Panel.

“A great, great composer, who writes beautiful, beautiful music.” Julian Joseph: Pianist

A remarkable composer, conductor, arranger and baritone sax player.” Mo-Jo Magazine

“The orchestration is simply breathtaking and the soloists fill out the picture beautifully.” The Observer

“Highly original writing, not lending itself to helpful comparisons.” Jazz Uk

“ It’s powerful stuff.” The Independent