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Photo: Lockie Mac

Richard Charlton is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading composers and guitarists. Born in the UK in 1955, he has lived in Australia since his parents emigrated in 1962. Largely self-taught, he initially started writing music to expand his own repertoire, but now his works have been performed and recorded by many leading Australian and international players and feature on more than 30 commercial CDs. His music combines a love of melody with a keen sense of harmonic and formal structure; music, 'to entice ear as well as the intellect' (Fred Blanks)

In 2004 Charlton was awarded Instrumental Work of the Year at the APRA/AMC Classical Music Awards for his quartet Stoneworks, commissioned by the Australian Guitar Quartet, Saffire. In 2005, the UK magazine Classical Guitar described him as 'producing some of the most inspired and accessible guitar works of the present era'.

One of his works was featured on an ABC TV documentary about the Terrace Proms in Perth, and Charlton has also had works premiered at many major festivals worldwide, including the Adelaide Festival, the Radio France International Guitar Week in Paris, the Sonorities Festival in Belfast and at Australia House and Bolivar Hall in London.

Charlton has been a featured composer at the Darwin International Guitar Festival and was invited, three times, to be part of the adjudication panel for the Darwin Competition. He was also on the adjudication panel for the 1st and 3rd Australian Guitar Competitions in Newcastle. He performs with the Sydney Guitar Trio and has premiered and promoted many Australian works internationally.

Presently the Director of Performance at Ascham School, Charlton has been involved with the creation of many new works for student orchestras and vocal ensembles. Highly sought after as teacher, composer and pedagogue, he has worked with children all over the world, conducting workshops at schools throughout Australia and overseas in Argentina, China, Great Britain, Hungary and Italy.

Many of Charlton's works are currently in the AMEB guitar, violin, cello and saxophone syllabus. Apart from publishing his own works, he is also represented in publications by Chanterelle and Trekel Musik in Germany, Frederick Harris Music in Canada and by Currency Press, Reed Music and Hal Leonard in Australia.

Richard Charlton — current to April 2012