Very Long Biography

Richard Ayres was born in Cornwall (South West England) in 1965. In 1986 he followed Morton Feldman’s classes at the Darmstadt and Dartington summer schools, and studied composition, electronic music and trombone at Huddersfield Polytechnic, graduating with Distinction in 1989. He moved to The Hague for postgraduate study in composition with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatoire where he later became a composition teacher. Since 2006 he has taught at the Amsterdam Conservatoire.

Ayres’ orchestral works present a kaleidoscope of colour, emotion and musical style, often involving strong visual and dramatic ideas and each bearing a number as its title. No. 37b (2006) for orchestra was premiered at the Donaueschingen Musiktage by the SWR Sinfonieorchester Freiburg and Baden-Baden, and has more recently been performed by Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. No. 46 (2010-11) for orchestra was premiered in the 2011 Holland Festival by the Residentie Orkest under Reinbert de Leeuw and repeated the following year; Ilan Volkov also conducted the work both in Strasbourg and Glasgow. Jointly commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and Südwestrundfunk, No. 48 (Night studio) (2014-15) for orchestra premiered in London with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov, and received its European premiere with SWR Sinfonieorchester and Peter Eötvös at the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2015. The latest orchestral work, No. 52 (Three pieces about Ludwig van Beethoven), was performed by the Aurora Orchestra at the 2020 BBC PROMS in the Royal Albert Hall.

A series of ‘NONcertos’ for solo instrument and ensemble or orchestra, wherein the soloist is often positioned as a virtuosic anti-hero, demonstrate Ayres’ ability to balance drama and humour in his music. Klangforum Wien and Marco Blaauw premiered No. 31 (NONcerto for trumpet and ensemble) in 1998, which was awarded a “recommendation” at the 1999 Unesco Rostrum of Composers in Paris. No. 36 (NONcerto for horn and ensemble) (2002) was premiered by the ASKO Ensemble and has since been performed across Europe, notably by Stefan Dohr and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle in 2016. The work requires the soloist to run from one ‘mountain peak’ to another between virtuosic lines.

Ayres has had great success in the opera genre. His first, No. 39 (The Cricket Recovers), based on a story by children’s author Toon Tellegen, was commissioned and premiered by Aldeburgh Almeida Opera in 2005, followed by a series of productions at the Brengenzer Festspiele, Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Holland Festival and Theater Basel. The work receives its US premiere at the Tanglewood Music Festival in August 2019, conducted by Thomas Adès. His second opera, No. 45 (Peter Pan), was premiered in 2013 by Staatsoper Stuttgart, with productions given by Welsh National Opera in 2015, and performed at the Royal Opera House, London, and Komische Oper Berlin in season 16/17. In 2022 a new ‘Composer’s Version’ was staged with great success in the Staatstheater Mainz. No. 42 (In the Alps) (2008), an “animated concert” written for soprano Barbara Hannigan and the Netherlands Blazers Ensemble, uses narrative projections in the style of a silent film. Regular performances have been given around Europe and the USA. More recently, No. 50 (The Garden) (2017-18) for bass voice and ensemble was commissioned by Asko|Schönberg and London Sinfonietta, with initial development by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In a style similar to In the Alps, The Garden is a delightful and surprising monodrama, presented as semi-staged productions with film in Amsterdam, London and Music Biennale Zagreb, a staged version in the Ostrava New Opera Days, and Staatstheater Mainz, and film version commissioned by Acht Brücken Festival in Köln.

Ayres chamber music has been performed by ensembles including Musikfabrik, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble 2e2m, and Apartment House.

 Recent commissions have been the evening length No. 56 (Islands) for ensemble and soundtrack by the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble , ‘The Klunk in the Piano’ for soprano and piano for an audience of children from 3 to 5 years old, No.57 (K's Strange Day) for Timpani and Orchestra for the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, No.58 (Bruckner) for small ensemble (Asko|Schönberg) to commemorate  Anton Bruckner’s 200th birthday, and  No. 59 (Dr Frompou’s Anatomical Study of an Orchestra) for the Aurora Orchestra’s 20 birthday.

 In 2022 Richard was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Huddersfield.