Richard Ayres

It is carnival time. Richard Ayres’s music is rooted in a dynamic, pulse-driven minimalism not so far from that of John Adams, with plenty of room for instrumental virtuosity, sweeping glamour, constant surprise and a great deal of humour. The range of reference will be wide, probably wild. Here is a composer, too, with a strong sense of theatre—of people struggling to express themselves through this strange, colourful, ungraspable stuff that is music.

Born and brought up in Cornwall, Ayres went to London after school with the idea of making his life in the theatre, but an encounter with Morton Feldman in 1986 persuaded him he could do so as a composer. He studied at Huddersfield, then went to the Netherlands in 1989 to complete his training with Louis Andriessen. There he remained, forming close relationships with musicians and ensembles in the thriving new-music culture of Amsterdam.

The Sinfonietta’s performance in 2001 of his NONcerto for Alto Trombone—one of several pieces that take their soloists beyond the boundaries of conventional concerto behaviour—was crucial in introducing him to audiences in his native country. Other works include many for varied and often irregular instrumental groupings, as well as an opera, The Cricket Recovers.