ABOUT
Beginning composition lessons at Birmingham Conservatoire in 2006, Robert studied with Richard Causton and Edwin Roxburgh, graduating in 2010 with first class honours. He was offered an entrance scholarship from the Royal Academy of Music plus grants from the RVW Trust and the AHRC to begin his MMus under Simon Bainbridge, on which he was awarded the 2011 Eric Coates Prize and The G V Turner-Cooke Composition Award. Graduating in 2012 with distinction, Robert was given an additional DipRAM along with The Charles Lucas Memorial Prize for best composition and the Edwin Samuel Dove Prize for special merit during studentship. Other awards from this time include the 2012 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize, the 2012 Alan Horne prize, and more recently the 2016 Priaulx Rainier Prize. Over his time at the RAM Robert has also received much valuable tuition from Christopher Austin, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Oliver Knussen and others. He is currently a PhD student at the RAM supervised by Simon Bainbridge, where he continues his research into ‘monochromatic instrumentation’ amongst other things. His music takes on a wide range of influences, stemming from a diverse musical upbringing, where prevalent features often include a directness of character, textural depth, and a sense of thematic unity and direction.
Robert has enjoyed performances of his work at venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Snape Maltings, Duke’s Hall, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Cheltenham Town Hall, Imperial War Museum (London), Adrian Boult Hall and Thalia Hall, and has worked with various professional, student and amateur ensembles including the LPO, BCMG, The Academy Manson Ensemble, Chroma , Fretwork, Orchestra of the Swan, The Britten-Pears Composers Ensemble, The Solaris and Castalian String Quartets, as well as with renowned performers such as Christopher Redgate, Rolf Hind, Elgar Howarth, Clare Hammond, Vesselin Gellev, Tim Horton, Gemma Rosefield and Frank Ollu. Robert is also a ‘Britten-Pears young artist’, and his work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Recent work includes a Violin Concerto for Vesselin Gellev and the LPO (2015-16 LPO Young Composers Scheme) plus commissions from the Aurora Trio, the Presteigne Festival, and the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta at the 2015 Windsor Festival. Besides composition/research, Robert also teaches piano and composition on a freelance basis, has been involved with composition workshops in local primary schools, and lives in Herefordshire.
Scores/Parts are available from composersedition.com