Michael Finnissy

Michael Peter Finnissy (born 17 March 1946) is an English composer, pianist, and pedagogue. An immensely prolific composer, his music is “notable for its dramatic urgency and expressive immediacy”. Although he rejects the label, he is often regarded as one of the foremost composers of the New Complexity movement. Biography Early life Michael Finnissy was born in Tulse Hill, London, on 17 March 1946 to Rita Isolene née Parsonson and George Norman Finnissy. His father was employed at the London City Council. When he was four, he received his first piano lessons from his great-aunt Rose Louise (Rosie) Hopwood, soon after writing his first compositions. He attended Hawes Down Infant and Junior schools, Bromley Technical High School, and Beckenham and Penge Grammar School, and excelled in graphic art, mathematics, and English literature. Student years Finnissy received the William Hurlstone composition prize at the Croydon Music Festival, a factor which assisted his parents’ decision to let him apply to music college. He was then awarded a Foundation Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music, piano with Edwin Benbow and Ian Lake, and composition with Bernard Stevens and Humphre