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Composer Biographical Details
         
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Richard Grantham was born in Sheffield and studied Music at Huddersfield Polytechnic. He is a former Principal Cornet of The National Youth Brass Band and winner of the Alexander Owen Memorial Scholarship. Richard's interest in composing and arranging began while still at school where he came under the watchful eye of George Thompson of the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. He later studied with Richard Steinitz and Peter Lawson at Huddersfield.

During the next 20 years, much of Richard's musical focus was on performing and conducting where he performed with some of the UK's top brass bands, worked as a free-lance trumpeter and led The Cottingham Band from 4th Section to Championship Section qualifying for the National Finals in 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000. Throughout this time though, he continued to compose and arrange music for a variety of ensembles including the Rothwell Band ( who gave a number of premiers of his works in concert and in recordings)

Richard's Brass Quartet was premiered at Hull University in 1995 and his Tuba Quartet ' Celtic Festival' at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in 1998. Also in 1998, Richard was commissioned to arrange songs by the Hull-based Pop group " The Beautiful South" which were recorded by the EYMS Band as B sides of released singles. One of these songs, " Perfect 10" reached number 2 in the UK singles chart. In 2004, Richard worked with his long-standing friend, the conductor John Roberts to record his evocative work ' Gothic - variations in a time of uncertainty' with the Yorkshire Co-Op Band. The work was broadcast on the Australian ABC Classic FM radio network in February 2005.

In recent times, Richard has written a number of popular solo items for both brass and wind. Euphoria, a Jazz-inspired Euphonium solo was premiered in its wind band form in July 2005 by Charlie Brighton of the BBC Wind Band and the brass band version in November 2005 by Michael Howley with the Yorkshire Co-operatives Band.  Star of the East, written for Trombone virtuoso, Brett Baker had its UK premier in November 2005 and was given its Dutch premier by Brett with the Dutch Champions Brass Band de Waldsang in February 2006. BB de Waldsang and Brett Baker released it on CD along with Richard's Tallis' Lamentation in June 2006.

The wind band version of his popular 'Spirit of Africa' was chosen as a test piece for the International Muse Festival taking place in Singapore in April of 2006.

Hostile Skies, a major work for Band was recorded by Brass Band de Waldsang, Dutch National Champions under Reiks van der Velde in November 2006

Richard briefly returned to conducting in 2006/7 and took the Midlands Area 1st Section title with Gresley Colliery Band on Eric Ball's Sonfonietta - The Wayfarer.

Richard has worked for a number of years in education and was Head of Music and then Head of Performing Arts at Headlands School in Bridlington between 1994 and 2004. He is currently Assistant Headteacher at Holgate School in Nottinghamshire, a Specialist Arts College.