Damien Harron is a percussionist, composer and educator from Northern Ireland. His works have been performed in major venues domestically and internationally, including many performances in Japan and the USA.



Damien Harron's pieces have featured in many of Britain's festivals including the Rhythmsticks Festival at the South Bank, Brighton Festival, Bath International Festival and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.



Damien Harron studied performance and composition at the University of Huddersfield where he gained a first class degree and was awarded the Ricordi prize for the performance of contemporary music and the Governor's prize for achievement. He continued his studies at the Conservatoire National de Region de Rueil Malmaison in Paris. He is a founder member of BackBeat Percussion Quartet with whom he has performed throughout the UK and internationally in countries such as Zimbabwe, the USA and Japan, receiving numerous awards along the way. Specialising in contemporary music, Damien has performed with many of Britain's leading ensembles. He is also had much acclaim as a soloist and has performed virtuosic and theatrical repertoire in many venues around Europe.



As a composer Damien Harron has written for many unusual instrumental combinations. Rebounds is a piece that combines two basketball players with two bongo players. His compositions have many influences from world music. His piece Okavango for four African djembés has received two major broadcasts: firstly on the BBC World Service as part of the 1999 Commonwealth Day celebrations, and secondly on American National Public Radio's Performance Today. Another piece that draws on world music is Quiver . This piece pairs a violin with the Brazilian berimbau and was premiered at the 2000 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.



Damien Harron was commissioned by Crawley Borough Council to write Filling Airtime for brass band and percussion quartet with funds provided by the Performing Rights Society Foundation. This substantial work was premiered in November 2002 by BackBeat and Fodens brass band



An experienced educator, Damien was in 2003 the artistic director of Yuva Sangeeth (Youth Music), an intercultural project run by the Asian arts organisation Kala Sangam. He has undertaken numerous educational collaborations as a member of BackBeat Percussion Quartet, and has realised projects for many of Britain's festivals and arts organisations.



To date Damien Harron has written several works involving young people as co-creators and performers. Most recently he wrote a work for BackBeat and two year nine class groups entitled SoundWorld . This piece used elements from musical sources as eclectic as Western pop, African drumming, Japanese Taiko and was largely co-composed by the students themselves.



In January 2004 Damien Harron wrote Patterns on the Air for Brass Band and a large youth group of African drum players. This work was commissioned by the Greater Gwent music support service for their youth brass band.



He was commissioned to write Carnival of Rhythms for symphony orchestra, massed voices and massed percussionists for performance at the BBC proms in September 2002, a performance that was televised. Gear Trains, a piece for two percussion quartets and one hundred secondary school children was commissioned by Music4U and premiered at the Hull Jazz festival in August 2002. In March 2002 he was commissioned to write a thirty minute piece for sixty primary school children and BackBeat Percussion Quartet entitled Making Notes, Beating Time for performance at Sonic - a festival of living music in Surrey.



Damien Harron maintains an active performing schedule, often appearing as soloist playing adventurous and virtuosic repertoire. Recently he has formed the duo Timeline with acclaimed tabla player Sanju Sahai. In 2003 he had the honour of being invited to conduct the massed ensemble of the Japan Percussion Society in Osaka, Japan. He is an adjudicator for the annual series of regional festivals presented by Music for Youth , and since 2002 has been invited to chair the Traditional and International category for the subsequent national festival the south Bank. Damien is tutor in percussion at The University of York where he also holds a PRSF scholarship, studying with Roger Marsh for a PhD in composition.