Richard Whalley is a lecturer in composition at the University of Manchester in 2004, where he is the founder and director of the university’s new music ensemble, Vaganza. He also teaches composition and performs on the piano at the ARAM-Poitou Summer School in France. Navigating a pathway between the seemingly contradictory qualities of intimacy and of playfulness or quirkiness, his compositions draw on diverse sources of inspiration, driven by a preoccupation with the sensuous and/or physical impact of music. He is lucky to have worked with some outstanding soloists and ensembles, including Richard Casey, Caroline Balding, Oliver Coates, the Hilliard Ensemble, the Quatuor Danel, Dinosaur Annex and Trio Atem. He studied at University of York with Roger Marsh and Nicola Lefanu, and at Harvard University with Mario Davidovsky and Joshua Fineberg.