Born in Gloucestershire, 1983, Gavin Higgins grew up in the Forest of Dean. Surrounded by a family of ‘bander’s’, it was not long before he began to play in the local brass band. In 1999, Gavin was awarded a place to study at the prestigious Chethams School of Music in Manchester and in 2001 was given a scholarship to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Gary Carpenter, Frank Lloyd and Pete Francombe. In 2007 Gavin became a Royal College of Music scholar supported by the AHRC and Douglas and Hilda Simmonds Awards, studying composition with Ken Hesketh. Gavin is an SPNM Shortlisted Composer.
Gavin has had music performed by numerous ensembles and soloists across the UK in venues including the Wigmore Hall, Regent Hall, the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
His Alarms for solo trumpet and Road Works for percussion has proven very popular with BBC Young Musician finalists, both are regularly played in the competition. His virtuoso work Freaks for solo trombone has been recorded by Brett Baker and the Polysteel (flowers) Band on the Polyphonic label and Tango, has recently been recorded by Brett Baker and the Black Dyke Mills Band. His work Rage Dances was performed by members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall and more recently by the Liverpool Philharmonic's contemporary music group, Ensemble 10:10.
Other recent performances include; the premiere of Urban Fairy Tales with Maria Marchant, Fanfares and Love Songs performed by the National Children’s Band of Great Britain, and Mechanical Cabaret commissioned by the Royal College of Music for the Exhibition Road Music Day Festival.
Gavin is regularly commissioned to write new works including Fanfare as part of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Three Broken Love Songs for Mark Simpson and A Forest Symphony as part of the Voices in the Forest Festival, performed by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. A Forest Symphony was also selected for the wind and brass section of the British Composer Awards in 2008 and in March 2010, the BBC Symphony Orchestra will premiere his new work, Dancing at the Edge of Hell.
Gavin is also the very first music fellow to the Rambert Dance Company, one of the worlds leading dance companies.
