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 Quartet, Tacet(i) Ensemble based in Thailand, and Loadbang among others including the Old Bay Ensemble of Peabody Conservatory.
A recent survivor of brain cancer, and visually impaired, Quinlan explores what it means to be a composer with a disability. Pushing the limitations of 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 the simplicity of sound, he explores what sound can mean in isolation. Pieces of his, such as Set for Instruments (2022) exemplify his use of silence and rests, and represent how his music can be heard as collages of styles including Reductionism, Serialism, Experimentalism, and Modality.
After studying percussion for nearly a decade, Quinlan has studied and performed many experiments 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 which is his goal with his music.
His accomplishments include winning the 2023 Smadbeck Prize for his work Breaths and Vespers for Instruments (2022), awarded every year to best work composed by an Ithaca College student.
Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Quinlan has been exposed to world-class musical performances of 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.