Quinlan Armstrong Barrie is an award-winning composer based in Baltimore. His music explores the depths of simplicity and silence. Composing mostly for chamber ensembles, his music has been performed by multiple professional and international ensembles. These include the Momenta string quartet, Ekmeles vocal ensemble, Talea, and Tacet(i) Ensemble among others.
A recent survivor of brain cancer, and visually impaired, Quinlan explores what it means to be a composer with a disability. As he pushes the limitations of his visual impairment, his music also pushes the boundaries of what music can be. Quinlan’s music plays in a world of silence and tranquility, contrasting the hyper-connected world of today. Through simplicity, he explores how sound is transformed by isolation, and nothingness. Pieces of his, such as Set for Instruments (2022) exemplify his use of silences and rests, and represent his affinity for collages of styles including Reductionism, Serialism, and Experimentalism.
After studying percussion for nearly a decade, Quinlan has had many experiences in musical expression. These experiences have influenced him as a human and as an artist. He is eager to explore how sound can be crafted to express one’s emotions.
His accomplishments include winning the 2023 Smadbeck Prize for his work Breaths and Vespers for Instruments (2022). His music has been performed in the United States and Europe.
Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Quinlan has been exposed to world-class musical performances in many different styles, genres, and cultures. He studied at Ithaca College in New York State with Evis Sammoutis, Jorge Grossman, and Sally Lamb McCune. There he also received lessons and masterclasses from Alvin Singleton, Eric Guinivan, and Chaya Chernowin. He is currently at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore studying with Felipe Lara.