Richard Baker MA (Oxon) PhD (London)

Richard Baker was born in 1972 and received his earliest musical education as a chorister in Lichfield Cathedral Choir. After reading Music at Exeter College, Oxford, he was awarded a Netherlands Government Scholarship for study with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Doctoral study followed under John Woolrich at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Learning to Fly (1999), a concertante for Basset clarinet and ensemble, was premičred by Timothy Lines and the London Sinfonietta under Martyn Brabbins at the 1999 State of the Nation weekend. Los Rábanos (1998) has been performed and broadcast widely, and was recorded by the Composers Ensemble on The Hoxton Thirteen CD for NMC Recordings. Additionally, Richard's music has been performed by the Britten Sinfonia, The Brunel Ensemble, and the BBC Singers at the Aldeburgh, Spitalfields and Hampstead and Highgate festivals, the Europäischer Musikmonat (Switzerland) and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Acclaimed as a talented and versatile conductor of the contemporary repertoire, Richard has worked with many of the UK's leading new music ensembles including Almeida Opera, Apartment House, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Composers Ensemble and [rout]. He made his debut with German ensemble musikFabrik at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in November 2005.

Recent commissions include: Slow passage, low prospect, a cycle of songs for Christopher Purves (baritone) and Andrew West (piano) in collaboration with poet Lavinia Greenlaw for the 2004 Aldeburgh Festival; a solo piano work for Isabel Ettenauer for the 2003 Leamington Festival; and a BBC commission for the choir of the Latvian Music Academy, Riga (winners of the Let the Peoples Sing competition, 2001). October 2003 saw the premiere of The Key to Songs, an oboe quartet, for Nicholas Daniel and Britten Sinfonia Soloists at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, where Richard held the position of New Music Fellow from 2001-03.

Current projects include a commission from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust for Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn and an ensemble of outstanding young musicians led by violinist Christian Tetzlaff, for a European tour in Autumn 2006.