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Biography - Richard Orton
Richard Orton in the Hayloft Studio
Richard Orton was born in Derby in 1940, and after leaving school at sixteen to work in a bank, he later went on to take piano teaching and class teaching diplomas at the Birmingham School of Music; after a year’s teaching in Stourbridge he won a Choral Scholarship to St. John’s College, Cambridge, and sang tenor in the College Chapel Choir for four years while taking the B.A. and Mus. B. degrees in Music.
His appointment as a Lecturer in Music at the University of York in 1967 enabled him to pioneer and establish the University’s Electronic Music Studio (EMS) in 1968. The studio began as a ‘classical’ tape studio, but later adopted the technologies of the voltage-controlled synthesizer, and digital systems. He proposed the Project teaching system which is still the basis of teaching at York, and which has been emulated by many University Music departments around the world. In 1986 he founded, with his Electronics colleague Ross Kirk, the courses in Music Technology, first at postgraduate, and later at undergraduate level. The EMS has been very successful in its students; many studio directors around the world have studied or worked there. On taking early retirement from the University of York in 1998, he was honoured by the University with a lifetime Emeritus Readership.
During his teachings at the University Orton wrote a considerable number of works emerging as a significant figure in contemporary music. His work is challenging and yet highly accessible; intellectually rigorous and exceptionally beautiful. His music for instruments and live electronics remain some of the most accomplished works in this field. Richard Orton established the Mediamix series of concerts, which combine performances of electroacoustic compositions with film, dance and other performance media. He was a co-founder of the Composer’s Desktop Project, which placed affordable sound technologies on the individual composer’s desk. He also developed musical composition software, which formed part of the CDP system. In 1992 he began working on his algorithmic composition language, Tabula Vigilans, designed for real-time performance.
He now lives in Willoughby-on-the-Wolds with his wife Rae Davies. He has recently launched new musical-composition software, known as FormBuilder/ScoreBuilder.
His appointment as a Lecturer in Music at the University of York in 1967 enabled him to pioneer and establish the University’s Electronic Music Studio (EMS) in 1968. The studio began as a ‘classical’ tape studio, but later adopted the technologies of the voltage-
During his teachings at the University Orton wrote a considerable number of works emerging as a significant figure in contemporary music. His work is challenging and yet highly accessible; intellectually rigorous and exceptionally beautiful. His music for instruments and live electronics remain some of the most accomplished works in this field. Richard Orton established the Mediamix series of concerts, which combine performances of electroacoustic compositions with film, dance and other performance media. He was a co-
He now lives in Willoughby-
