Musical Director

Michael Alcorn, Musical Director

Michael Alcorn took up his position at Downshire in mid-February 2009 and has a long history of involvement in brass bands in Northern Ireland.  Michael Alcorn began playing cornet at the age of eleven and played with the Agnes Street Band from 1977 until 1985.  After Doctoral studies in England he returned to Northern Ireland in 1989 to take up the post of Composer-in-Residence at Queen’s University.  In 1998 he returned to playing and joined the Comber Band where he played Principal Cornet from 1999 - 2002.  

Following his appointment as Composer-in-Residence at Queen’s, he has held positions as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Music. In 2004 he established the world-renowned Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen’s and was Head of the Schools of Music and Sonic Arts and the School of Creative Arts until January 2016.  He took up a position as Dean of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences alongside his role as Professor of Composition at the University. He is now the Dean of Internationalisation for the Faculty and Institutional lead for the Creative Industries at Queen’s.  In addition, part of his research interests are focused on the history of brass banding in Ireland.  www.brassbandsireland.org

Michael has led Downshire Brass through numerous contest successes from the Second Section to the Championship Section where the Band has been consistently in the top places and currently ranked as one ofthe leading bands in Northern Ireland (4Barsrest).