Role

:

Composer

Birth

:

1959

 

Richard Barrett is a British composer who was born on February 9, 1959, in Swansea, Wales. He grew up in a family of musicians, with his father being a jazz pianist and his mother a classical pianist. Barrett started playing the piano at a young age and later learned to play the trumpet and the guitar. He attended the University of York, where he studied composition with David Blake and Bernard Rands. Barrett's early works were influenced by the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen and other avant-garde composers. He was also interested in improvisation and electronic music, and he began experimenting with computer-generated sounds in the 1980s. In 1986, he co-founded the electroacoustic ensemble FURT with Paul Obermayer, and the group has since released several albums and performed at festivals around the world. Barrett's music is known for its complexity and its use of extended techniques, such as microtonality, multiphonics, and circular breathing. He has written works for a variety of ensembles, including orchestras, chamber groups, and solo performers. Some of his most notable compositions include "Opening of the Mouth," a piece for orchestra and electronics that was commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1992; "Codex IX," a work for solo percussion that was premiered by Colin Currie in 2009; and "CONSTRUCTION," a multimedia piece that combines live performance with video and computer-generated sound. In addition to his work as a composer, Barrett is also a respected musicologist and educator. He has written extensively on contemporary music and has taught at several universities, including the University of Huddersfield and the Institute of Sonology in The Hague. He has also been a visiting professor at institutions such as Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego. Barrett's music has been performed by some of the world's leading ensembles and performers, including the London Sinfonietta, the Ensemble Modern, and the Arditti Quartet. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2010 and the Giga-Hertz Award for Electronic Music in 2012. Despite his success, Barrett remains committed to pushing the boundaries of contemporary music and exploring new sonic possibilities. His work continues to inspire and challenge audiences around the world, and he remains one of the most innovative and influential composers of his generation.

More....