David Byers

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David Byers was the Manson Scholar in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London 1968-72, winning many prizes for composition and organ.

The Macauley Fellowship from the Irish Arts Council in 1972 and a Belgian Government Scholarship then enabled him to study with Henri Pousseur at the Liège Conservatoire. In 1984 he was awarded an ARAM for his contribution to the music profession, and also appointed a member of the Irish Arts Council, An Chomhairle Ealaíon, for five years.

He was a Governor of the Royal Irish Academy of Music for over 20 years and has served on many boards and committees, including Wexford Festival Opera, the National Concert Hall, Dublin, the Ulster Youth Choir and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. He was a founding committee member of the Sonorities Festival.

After 25 years he retired from the BBC in 2002 as Chief Producer, Music and Arts, and was then appointed Chief Executive of the Ulster Orchestra, retiring in 2010. He continues to compose, write articles and programme notes, and prepare editions of music from earlier eras. His works cover many genres and have been performed and broadcast across Europe, in the USA and Australia.

Writings About David Byers

The Organ Works of David Byers, Donal Doherty, (MA, NUIM, 1992)
The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, ed. Harry White and Barra Boydell, University College Dublin, 2013
The Encyclopedia of Ireland, ed Brian Lalor, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 2003
Beyond the Studio, Jonathan Bardon, Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 2000
Music in Northern Ireland since 1921, Roy Johnston, Chapter XXII, A New History of Ireland, Vol.VII, ed. J.R.Hill, Oxford University Press, 2003
Celebrating 80 Years of Music, (exhibition catalogue) BBC, Belfast, 2004
Open House, Peter Rosser, Journal of Music in Ireland, Vol.9 No.1, p.15, 2009