Henry McPherson is a composer, improviser, artist, pianist, and researcher based in the UK. Originally from Herefordshire, since 2013 he has been living and working between Scotland and the north of England.
Henry's work explores human–environment relationships through music and sonic art. He is interested in plant ecologies and forested landscapes, oceanic biomes and deep sea biology, nocturnal atmospheres, and the cyclical rhythms of geological time. His portfolio includes works for concert and stage, graphic and text scores, audiovisual works, albums, and gallery installations. From abstract noise to rich tonalities, Henry’s music traverses contemporary classical, experimental, and freely improvised influences in an evolving exploration of creative sound. He is urgently concerned by ongoing ecological devastation, and our insistence on disconnection from the more-than-human world. His artistic research investigates how improvisation and practices of attentive listening might aid us in the urgent work of ecological restoration.
Henry's work has been performed and recorded by internationally acclaimed ensembles and artists, broadcast on national and regional radio, and presented in festivals, galleries, and performance events across the UK, France, Switzerland, Greece, the USA, the Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Ireland, and China. Past premieres include the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Uhte, 2016), Scottish Opera (Maud, 2017/2023), Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble (How to play Mariana, 2024), the Glasgow Improvisers’ Orchestra (Foutraque, 2021), Ensemble Modern (Mannequin, 2016), and RedNote Ensemble (Tides, 2015), while recent installation and audiovisual works have included Colagens at Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh, 2019) and Despina Gallery (Rio de Janeiro, 2018), Bryographs and Moss Verses at Galérie Analix Forever (Geneva, 2024), More Than One Thing at hcmf// (Huddersfield, 2021), and How to be a forest at Fox Yard Studios (Lowestoft, 2024),
In recent years, Henry’s focus has shifted from large ensemble composition toward more intimate, process-led collaborations with other artists. Recent collaborative projects include IMMERSIONS (2022), an eco-arts residency with dance artists Kirstie Simson and Michael Schumacher exploring improvisation in sites at risk of sea level rise (supported by Creative Scotland); Herbarium (2023), an exploration of botanical illustration notation with Austrian composer Florijan Lörnitzo (supported by Stadt Wien and AustroMechana); Dancing with Colours (2022), an inclusive improvisational sound, movement, and painting production directed by JoAnne Haines, and produced by Mind The Gap; and Empty Dreaming (2025), a co-composition for piano with Joshua Brown, focusing on the performer's sensibility towards cyclical gestures and experiences of stretched time.
"McPherson’s score is not merely music but a soundscape, with sung dialogue being often echoed by whispers appearing to come from the trees. The music is very 21st-century, with an ever-present undercurrent of menace and violence. It packs a theatrical punch. "
Edinburgh Music Review of Maud (2023), Scottish Opera Young Company
"the music [...] convincingly rides that disarming line between familiar and skewed. McPherson’s writing is confident, vivid and rich in atmosphere."
Kate Molleson on Ūhte (2016), BBC SSO / Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
A versatile performer, Henry works with piano, voice, recorders, and DIY instruments making experimental and exploratory music. He is a founding member of the UK-US-French collective The Noisebringers, whose work spans collectively written improvised novels, choose-your-own adventure games, durational films, performance interventions, albums, and gallery installations. Since 2024, he has been performing with guitarist Joe Brooks in the duo Fecund Mulch, blending folk, early music, and experimental sounds in a rich humus of expressive textures. Between 2020 and 2023, Henry co-edited The MASS – an online discursive art and articles project – with collaborator Maria Sappho, curating the work of over 400 emerging and established artists from 50 countries in interdisciplinary monthly issues. He has performed with leading free improvising artists across Europe and the UK, including Maggie Nicols, Kirstie Simson, the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, Raymond MacDonald
Collaborating with a wide ranging of improvising artists, Henry has performed recently alongside Maggie Nicols, Steve Beresford, Sky Su, Ansuman Biswas, Kirstie Simson, the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, Rachel Dean, Alistair Zaldua, Maria Sappho, Faradena Afifi, David Birchall, Andy Ingamells, Maiya Leeke, Mick O’Shea, Roland Sutherland, Colin Frank, Skye Reynolds, Lauren Redhead, Brice Catherin, Michael Schumacher, Raymond MacDonald, Pascal Marzan, Beibei Wang, Saadet Türköz, Irene Murphy, Dejana Seculić, Linda Jankowska, Jessica Argo, Weston Olencki, Charlotte Keefe, Stanford Cheung, PA Tremblay, Christophe Schweizer, and Xina Hawkins (to name but a few).
As a researcher, Henry’s work focuses on improvisation and in-the-moment creativity, particularly within social, community, wellbeing, and environmentally oriented initiatives. He is a Bicentenary Research Fellow in the Music Department at the University of Manchester, and previously held posts as a visiting lecturer in sonic improvisation at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and as a part-time lecturer in music at the University of Huddersfield. He also taught improvisation, composition, and performance skills for Opera North's Young Musicians' Studio programme, and for Bradford based learning-disability theatre company Mind The Gap.
Henry holds a PhD (2023) in contemporary music and contemporary dance from the University of Huddersfield Centre for Research in New Music and Research Centre for Performance Practice, where he was supported by a collaborative studentship in association with hcmf//. He also holds an MA (2018) and BMus (2017; hons, 1st) in Composition from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he studied composition with Colin Broom and Rory Boyle, and piano with Sinae Lee, Silviya Mihaylova, and Saša Gerželj-Donaldson.
Grants, Awards and Honours
Stadt Wien and AustroMechana Creative Funds (with Florijan Lörnitzo, Vienna, AT), 2022 – 2023
Creative Scotland Four National International Fund, IMMERSIONS (UK, NL), 2021 – 2022
Goethe Institute Virtual Partner Residency Fund (with The Noisebringers, Geneva, CH), 2020 – 2021
University of Huddersfield Collaborative PhD Studentship in Music and Dance in Association with Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, 2019 – 2023
New Music Scotland Scottish Awards for New Music (Nominee, “Collaboration in New Music”), 2019
Help Musicians Transmission Fund, 2018
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Creative Gesture Programme Scholarship (Banff, CA), 2018
Psappha Ensemble Composing for Guzheng Bursary, 2018
Harriet Cohen Memorial Music Trust Harriet Cohen Memorial Music Award, 2018
Royal College of Music Patron’s Prize for Composition, 2017
New Music Scotland Scottish Awards for New Music (Nominee, “Best Recorded New Work”), 2017
Scottish Opera Opera Sparks Commission Prize, 2017
BBC Scottish Symphony Club Composition Prize, 2016
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Sibelius Essay Prize, 2016; Agnes Millar Award for Harmony and Counterpoint, 2015; Dinah Wolfe Memorial Prize for Composition, 2013 – 14
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Institutional Scholarship (Bachelors), 2013 – 2017; (Masters), 2017 – 2018
