Behind The Music

Richard is a composer and arranger based in Manchester, UK. His career spans film, television, live performance and classical music. He began his musical journey in Ireland as a member of the Drogheda Brass Band and Irish Youth Choir before studying at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and the University of Salford in England, where he earned a BA (Hons) in Music, an MA, and a PhD in Composition.

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Richard’s work includes commissions for brass/wind bands and ensembles, with performances on BBC radio and television – notably, he wrote music for The Folk Show on BBC Radio 2 – at Brass in Concert and at the European Brass Championships. He arranged 13 pieces for Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller’s Acid Brass II project.

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His film and television projects include arrangements for the TV drama The Village, sync placements for BBC’s The One Show, The Last Miners and The Great Pottery Throwdown, and arranging for the Sky Arts production A Brass Band Wonderland, working with Jason Manford. He was also commissioned by Manchester City FC to arrange a piece for the Premier League celebration at Albert Square in 2013. Additionally, he composed exhibition music for the Richard III museum in Leicester and produced and composed for the short sci-fi/horror film Piercing the Veil. Recent composition projects include a recording with the Scottish Session Orchestra at Clockwork Studios in Scotland. Combining experience in orchestration, MIDI programming and production enables him to integrate classical orchestration with modern production techniques. 

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In addition to composing, Richard has performed as a vocalist. He sang with the Hallé Choir for four years and contributed to projects with the London Symphony Choir/Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic.

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Richard is a founding member of New Sense Brass and a member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists and the Ivors Academy.