Jürgen Simpson was born in Dublin and studied composition with Kevin Volans, Donnacha Dennehy and Roger Doyle. He gained a Masters in Music and Media Technologies from Trinity College Dublin.
He has written electronic, instrumental and vocal works and has composed for film, theatre and dance. In 2002 he was a finalist in the Genesis Opera Project in Britain and this resulted in the commission of an electro-acoustic opera, Thwaite, with librettist Simon Doyle. The opera was subsequently awarded the top prize by the Genesis Foundation and was performed by Almeida Opera, London, and by Opera Theatre Company, Dublin, in 2003. His first opera, Neshika, with librettist Clare MacCumhaill was premiered in the Dublin Theatre Festival Fringe in 2000.
An active performer of live electronics, Jürgen Simpson has performed with the Crash Ensemble and at MediaLab’s NIME 2002 and the 2000 Cork Intermedia Festival. Future performances include a concert of solo electronic music in London in 2003. He is also accordionist with rock band ‘The Jimmy Cake’ and is currently collaborating with piper Davy Spillane on a new album. He is a lecturer in music technology at the University of Limerick.