Richard Frank Keith Harris (born 5 March 1968) is a London-based composer, arranger, transcriber, teacher and pianist. Richard Harris studied

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature * Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

and

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", or ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where his tutors included

Kenneth Leighton Kenneth Leighton (2 October 1929 – 24 August 1988) was a British composer and pianist. His compositions include church and choral music, pieces for piano, organ, cello, oboe and other instruments, chamber music, concertos, ...

. At Edinburgh he co-founded the contemporary classical ensemble

Piano Circus Piano Circus is a musical ensemble consisting of six pianists. The original six-piano ensemble formed in 1989 to perform Steve Reich's ''Six Pianos''. Founding members included Kirsteen Davidson-Kelly, Richard Harris, Kate Heath, Max Richter, ...

, with whom he was a member until 2002, commissioning and performing works by

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in par ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

and

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, ...

. The ensemble was signed to

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

/ Argo, producing five CDs. Compositions by Harris feature on the Argo CD ''Loopholes'', and in full on the ensemble's own CD ''Landscapes Of The Heart''; he also produced successful arrangements of works by

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for it ...

and

Thomas Ades Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

. His work ''Hexada'' was featured in the UK television programme ''The Score''. In 1992 Harris began teaching

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

, theory and

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

music at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It derives from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the 1066 Norman Conquest, as d ...

, where he himself had been a pupil. In 1994 Harris became a published author with

Faber Music Faber Music is a British sheet music publisher best known for contemporary classical music. It also publishes music tutor books, and in 2005 acquired popular music publisher International Music Publications. Faber Music has close relations to t ...

, and in 1997 was chosen by the film composer

Carl Davis Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961. He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...

to be his personal music arranger. Harris's books range from his own compositions and educational tutors to film, jazz and pop arrangements, and include collaborations with

Evelyn Glennie Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015. Early life Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. The indig ...

and

Joanna MacGregor Joanna Clare MacGregor (born 16 July 1959) is a British concert pianist, conductor, composer, and festival curator. She is Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and a professor of the University of London. She is currently artistic direc ...

. In 1999 Harris's arrangement of

's ''Keyboard Study No.2'' was chosen by

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Towns ...

as the supporting music for Townshend's '' Lifehouse'' concert at

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-se ...

. In 2000,

collaborated with the German composer

Heiner Goebbels Heiner Goebbels (born 17 August 1952) is a German composer, conductor and professor at Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen and artistic director of the International Festival of the Arts Ruhrtriennale 2012–14. His composition ''Stifters Dinge' ...

, and the resulting piece ''Scutigeras'', entirely written by Harris and based on Goebbels' existing works, received a live premiere on BBC radio. In 2004, Harris composed the music to ''Warriors'', a successful show at the London

Planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

. In 2005, Harris created a website allowing users to request personalised sheet music, in the form of bespoke arrangements and transcriptions. The site has featured in many newspapers and magazines, including ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' and ''Classical Music Magazine''. In 2009, Harris composed a big band piece for the Cardinal Vaughan Big Band entitled 'Addison Blues', which gave its world premiere performance at

St. John's, Smith Square St John's Smith Square is a redundant church in the centre of Smith Square, Westminster, London. Sold to a charitable trust as a ruin following firebombing in the Second World War, it was restored as a concert hall. This Grade I listed ch ...

Concert Hall, for a concert in aid of the

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

. Harris also gives lectures with author

Rob Eastaway Rob Eastaway is an English author. He is active in the popularisation of mathematics and was awarded the Zeeman medal in 2017 for excellence in the promotion of maths. He is best known for his books, including the bestselling ''Why Do Buses Come ...

entitled ''Numbers and Rumbas'', exploring the relationship between mathematics and

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

Notes

External links

* http://www.rfkharris.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Richard 1968 births Living people 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers British classical composers British male classical composers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians