Richard Baker (born 1972) is a British composer and conductor, known equally for his own highly charged and distinctive music and for his performances of contemporary music, especially the music of his contemporaries in the UK.
Richard Baker was a chorister in Lichfield Cathedral choir as a child.[1] He read music at Exeter College, Oxford, and spent a year at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague studying under Louis Andriessen, before attending Royal Holloway, University of London, where he received his doctorate.[2] In 2001 he was appointed New Music Fellow at Kettle's Yard, and became fellow-commoner at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was Director of Music from 2005 to 2007. He is also Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[3]
Baker's notable compositions include 'Los Rábanos' (1998) and 'Learning to Fly' (1999).[2] In 2006, he was commissioned to write a choral piece for the dedication of the new organ in the Trinity Hall Chapel;[4] his anthem The Sacred Organ's Praise was a setting of words from John Dryden's "Song for St Cecilia's Day".