Born in Co. Down in 1972, Deirdre McKay studied music at Queens University, Belfast, continuing at the University of Manchester and later studying with Kevin Volans. In 2003 she completed her doctoral study in composition with Piers Hellawell at Queens University.
Her work has received over eighty performances in Ireland, England and Europe with commissions from RT Music, Music Network and the Arts Council of Ireland, and performances by artists including the Calefax Reed Quintet, the Vertavo, Tippett and Vanbrugh String Quartets, Andrew Zolinsky, Tasmin Little and Martin Roscoe, Ulster Orchestra, Crash Ensemble and Concorde. Her work has featured at the Park Lane Series at the South Bank and RT Living Music Festival, and has been broadcast by BBC Radio Ulster and RT Lyric FM.
Deirdre has led education work with the Ulster Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, National Chamber Choir, Pushkin Prizes Trust and Opera Theatre Company. In 2002, Deirdre was Composer in Association to the Northern Sinfonias affiliated Young Sinfonia.
Her second collaboration with celebrated artist Jean Duncan A Pale Yellow Sky was commissioned by the Naughton Gallery, Queens University, Belfast and shows through March and April, 2005. Recent commissions include a string quartet for Dublin Youth Orchestra and a commission from the Sligo Contemporary Music Festival for Ixion, both funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, as well as a 2005 RT commission for the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
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