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Life
Born in Bicester in 1931, Anthony Hedges studied music at Keble College, Oxford, and left university with a first class honours degree and a post-graduate degree in composition. Following National Service as solo pianist and arranger with the Royal Signals Band, he spent the next five years as a lecturer at the Royal Scottish Academy of music. During that time he was a regular contributor on music to many national newspapers and journals. In 1962 he moved to Hull University where, he became, until his retirement in 1995, Reader in Composition. In 1972 he was elected Chairman of The Composers’ Guild of Great Britain, served as joint-Chairman in 1973 and was subsequently elected to the Guild’s Council. He has been a member of the music panels of Yorkshire Arts and Lincolnshire and Humberside Arts, the Music Board of C.N.N.A., and a Council member of the S.P.N.M. A Council member of Westminster Central Music Library for 15 years, he instituted its publishing scheme for contemporary British scores. As a pianist he has given regular solo recitals, and as an accompanist has worked with many leading performers. In the late 1970s he founded the Humberside Sinfonia with whom he gave numerous successful concerts as well as recording a highly-praised LP of his music.
Anthony Hedges is equally successful in many types of music. His serious music has received wide critical acclaim; his light music enjoys numerous broadcasts, recordings and public performances. He has also written much music for children and amateurs as well as having composed for film, stage, ballet and television. His works have been performed by many major British orchestras and heard worldwide in many hundreds of broadcast and public performances. In 1991 he was the featured composer in the Riga Festival of British Music and Film and was subsequently invited back to Latvia to conduct further performances of his works. A prolific composer, much of his output has resulted from commissions — over 60 to date. In 1990 Hull Central Library established an Archive collection of all his compositions and working sketches. A CD of his light orchestral music was issued in 1997 (Naxos/Marco Polo) and many CD recordings have followed on various labels. In the same year he was awarded an honorary D.Mus. by the University of Hull. He lives with his wife Joy in the picturesque town of Beverley. More details can be found in Who’s Who.
