Richard BARRETT

Richard Barrett, born in Swansea (Wales) in 1959, studied genetics at University College London and composition with Peter WIEGOLD (from 1980 to 1983), subsequently receiving guidance from Brian FERNEYHOUGH and Hans-Joachim HESPOS at the 1984 Darmstadt Summer Courses. His compositions have won the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (1986) and Gaudeamus Prize (1989). He was on the composition faculty at Darmstadt from 1986 to 1994, and taught composition at Middlesex University in London from 1989 to 1992. He has lived in Amsterdam since 1993, and is presently teaching electronic composition and performance in the Institute of Sonology at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. He was co-director (with Roger REDGATE) of Ensemble Exposé from its foundation in 1984 until 1993.

Richard Barrett's compositions have been performed and broadcast worldwide by ensembles such as L'Itinéraire, Ensemble Köln, Ensemble Modern, Arditti String Quartet, Ensemble InterContemporain, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Klangforum Wien, and soloists including Andrew SPARLING, Carl ROSMAN, Ian PACE, Friedrich GAUWERKY, Anne La BERGE, Frances-Marie UITTI and Daryl BUCKLEY. His 1994 work Vanity has been internationally acclaimed as one of the most important orchestral scores of the 1990s. Of central importance is his collaboration with ELISION Ensemble, for whom he has written Another heavenly day (1989-90), negatives (1988-92), Opening of the Mouth (1992-97) and transmission (1996-99), with future projects including the evening-long DARK MATTER (1990-2000) for ELISION together with the Norwegian ensemble Cikada Ensemble and artist Per Inge BJØRLO. In 1997-98 Richard Barrett was composer-in-residence with the Belgian ensemble Champ d'Action, for whom he wrote the music-theatre work Unter Wasser, on a text by the Austrian writer Margret KREIDL. In 1998 he was a featured composer at the Festival Ars Musica (Brussels) and Gaudeamus (Amsterdam) festivals.

As a performer of live electronic music, he has worked since 1986 in the electronic duo FURT (with Paul OBERMAYER), and has also played with many leading improvising musicians such as George E. LEWIS, Evan PARKER, Mary OLIVER, Peter van BERGEN, Michael VATCHER, Fred van HOVE and the `Music in Movement Electronic Orchestra´, as well as with the ELISION, Champ d'Action and Reservoir ensembles.

CD recordings include:

• Richard Barrett/Elision Ensemble (ELISION, Sandro GORLI conductor, ETCETERA)
• FURT Live in Amsterdam 1994 (X-OR)
• Vanity (BBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo TAMAYO conductor, NMC)
• FURT: angel (JdK)
• Opening of the Mouth (ELISION, Simon HEWETT conductor, ABC Classics)

August 1999