Bio


Studies with Ton de Leeuw, Amsterdam Conservatory, and Klaus Huber, Basel Conservatory.

Awards: Mendelssohn Scholarship, 1968; Lady Holland Composition Award, Royal Academy of Music, 1967; Grand Prix du Disque, 1978 and 1982; Gaudeamus Music Week Prizes 1969 and 1970; Composition Stipend, City of Basle, 1969-71; Koussevitsky Prize 1978; Composition Stipend of Southwest German Radio, 1974-5; Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres, Paris 1984; Associate Royal Academy of Music, 1990; Royal Philharmonic Award for Chamber Music Composition, 1996; Fellow, Birmingham Conservatoire, 1995; Elected Member of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 1996; Fellow, Royal Academy of Music, 1998; Elected Corresponding Member of the Bayrische Akademie der Schönen Künste 2005.

Activities: member of International Jury ISCM, 1980 (Finland) and 1988 (Hong Kong); member jury Gaudeamus Composition Competition 1983; member of International Reading Panel, IRCAM, 1993 & 1999; member of Kranichsteiner Preis Jury, Darmstadt, 1978-96; member of board, Perspectives of New Music 1995-present.

Compositions featured throughout the world and at all the major European festivals of contemporary music. Compositions include: Fourth String Quartet, Bone Alphabet, Terrain, Allgebrah, Incipits, Unsichtbare Farben, String Trio. His opera Shadowtime was premiered as part of the Munich Biennale 2004, and has been taken to Paris, New York, Bochum and London 2004-5. In 2006, it was staged in Stockholm, Sweden. In October 2006, his orchestral piece Plötzlichkeit was premiered at the Donaueschingen Festival, Germany. His Fifth String Quartet was premiered in Witten and later played in the Aldeburgh and Salzburg Festivals.

Publications: Collected Writings, Harwood Academic Publishers, 1998; POETIK, and various articles and interviews.

Academic Appointments


  • Emeritus Faculty, Acad Council, Music

Honors & Awards


  • Mendelssohn Scholarship, Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation (1968)
  • Lady Holland Composition Award, Royal Academy of Music (1967)
  • Grand Prix du Disque, L'Académie Charles Cros (1978)
  • Grand Prix du Disque, L'Académie Charles Cros (1982)
  • Gaudeamus Music Week Prizes, Gaudeamus Foundation (1969)
  • Gaudeamus Music Week Prizes, Gaudeamus Foundation (1970)
  • Koussevitsky Prize, Koussevitzky Music Foundations (1978)
  • Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres, French Legion of Honors (1984)
  • Associate, Royal Academy of Music (1990)
  • Royal Philharmonic Award for Chamber Music Composition, Royal Philharmonic Society (1996)
  • Fellow, Birmingham Conservatoire (1995)
  • Elected Member, Akademie der Künste (1996)
  • Fellow, Royal Academy of Music (1998)
  • Elected Corresponding Member, Bayrische Akademie der Schönen Künste (2005)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Member of International Jury, International Society for Contemporary Music (Finland) (1980 - 1980)
  • Member of International Jury, International Society for Contemporary Music (Hong Kong) (1988 - 1988)
  • Member of Jury, Gaudeamus Composition Competition (1983 - 1983)
  • Member of International Reading Panel, Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (1993 - 1993)
  • Member of International Reading Panel, Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (1999 - 1999)
  • Member, Kranichsteiner Preis Jury (1978 - 1996)
  • Member of Board, Perspectives of New Music (1995 - Present)

2020-21 Courses


All Publications


  • Collected Writings Ferneyhough, B. edited by Boros, J., Toop, R. Harwood Academic Publishers. 1995