Background
Hugh Collins Rice was born in Oxford in 1962.
Hugh Collins Rice was born in Oxford in 1962.
He read music at the university of Oxford followed by an Master of Arts (composition and analysis) at Sussex and research at Oxford (Master of Letters - Schoenberg"s serial music).
His music is well suited to mixed programming and often involves abstract references to musics of the past Much of his early musical experience was gained in brass bands, including five years playing with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. He has been teaching undergraduates at Oxford for a number of years and is currently college lecturer in music at Oriel College, Oxford.
His music has been performed at many venues across the British Isles and in Europe, including the Royal Festival Hall, the Concertgebouw and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
Performers have included the Hilliard Ensemble, the Britten Sinfonia, Jane Manning, the Swingle Singers, the Coull Quartet and the Holywell Ensemble. Several works have been broadcast on British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 3 and in Europe.
Vocal works have set a wide variety of texts from medieval graffiti to Street Mark"s Gospel and the poems of Geoffrey Hill, Christina Rossetti and Thomas Wyatt. Instrumental music includes the prize winning orchestral pieces and
The string quartet,, was written in association with the Walton Trust and dedicated to Lady Walton after the early stages of its composition were conceived in the spectacular gardens of Louisiana Mortella, Walton"s home on the island.
Writing for more unusual ensembles has been a regular feature of his output, recent examples include Earth and Moon written for the tuba quartet Tubalate, and Sequentiae Hildegargenses for the medieval ensemble Mediva. He is currently working on a music theatre project in collaboration with Mediva.