# Anthony Ritchie

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For the Scottish physiologist and educator, see [Anthony Elliot Ritchie](/source/Anthony_Elliot_Ritchie).

**Anthony Damian Ritchie** (born 18 September 1960) is a New Zealand [composer](/source/Composer) and academic. He has been a freelance composer accepting commissions for works and in 2018 he became professor of composition at [The University of Otago](/source/University_of_Otago) after 18 years of teaching composition. In 2020 he became head of the university's School of Performing Arts, a three-year position. He retired in 2026 becoming Emeritus Professor. His works number over two hundred, and include [symphonies](/source/Symphony), [operas](/source/Opera), [concertos](/source/Concerto), choral works, [chamber music](/source/Chamber_music) and solo works.

## Early life

Ritchie was born in Christchurch in 1960.[1] He is the son of [John Ritchie](/source/John_Ritchie_(composer)), who was a professor teaching composition and orchestration at the [University of Canterbury](/source/University_of_Canterbury).[1][2] His mother was a soprano soloist and he began learning the piano at the age of nine, showing early aptitude for improvisation.[1]

## Education

Ritchie began composing when still at school, attending [St Bede's College](/source/St_Bede's_College,_Christchurch) in Christchurch.[1] In 1979 he was a member of the [New Zealand Youth Choir](/source/New_Zealand_Youth_Choir) in its first year.[3] He completed his BMus with honours in 1981 at the [University of Canterbury](/source/University_of_Canterbury).[1] He studied the influence of folk music on some of Béla Bartók's works in Hungary in 1983, as well as composition with [Attila Bozay](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila_Bozay) and Zsolt Serei.[1] He completed his Ph.D. on the music of [Béla Bartók](/source/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k) in 1987.[1][4]

## Career

In 1987 Ritchie was Composer-in-Schools in Christchurch and in 1988–1989 [Mozart Fellow](/source/Mozart_Fellowship) at the University of Otago.[1] He then became a freelance composer accepting a number of commissions.[5] These included *Theme and Variations - the search* which premiered in June 1998 in Dunedin, *From the Southern Marches* commissioned by George Griffiths of Otago Heritage Books and premiered in March 1998, *Revelation* commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and performed in Christchurch and Wellington in 1998, a guitar concerto commissioned by the [Auckland Philharmonia](/source/Auckland_Philharmonia_Orchestra) and played by guitarist Matthew Marshall, and dances *Shoal Dance* and *Leaf.*[5] He has written for many other performers including [Michael Houstoun](/source/Michael_Houstoun) and [Wilma Smith](/source/Wilma_Smith_(violinist)).[5][6]

Over the years Ritchie has collaborated with a number of writers such as [Stuart Hoar](/source/Stuart_Hoar), [Keri Hulme](/source/Keri_Hulme) and librettist [Jeremy Commons](/source/Jeremy_Commons). *Star Fire* (1995), written with Hoar, was Ritchie's first opera. It was futuristic with a sci-fi theme for primary and intermediate age school children, commissioned by Class Act Opera in Auckland who performed opera in schools. It also had environmental and Māori themes.[7] A further collaboration with Hoar produced *Quartet* (2004), a comic operetta examining the lives of classical musicians on tour in New Zealand. The production included a string quartet on stage.[8] He worked with novelist [Keri Hulme](/source/Keri_Hulme) on an opera *Ahua* (2000), the story of the [Ngāi Tahu](/source/Ng%C4%81i_Tahu) ancestor Moki. It was commissioned by the Christchurch City Choir.[9] In 2004 he collaborated with Jeremy Commons on *[The God Boy](/source/The_God_Boy)* an opera based on the novel by [Ian Cross](/source/Ian_Cross_(writer)).[10][11] It was performed by Opera Otago for the Otago Festival of the Arts.[11] Ritchie set works by Dunedin poet Elena Poletti to create *Lullabies* (2015) which were originally commissioned and performed by the Auckland Choral society.[12]

Ritchie, while not a [gamelan](/source/Gamelan) player, was attracted to the sounds of gamelan and used gamelan scales in his symphony *Boum* (1993) and in his piano piece *24 Preludes* (2002).[13] *24 Preludes* display many different musical influences: neo-Romantic composers, a range of time signatures, contrapuntal and harmonic styles, harpsichord and organ techniques, gamelan and celesta. Ritchie was also trying out the use of the mathematical concept of the [magic square](/source/Magic_square) also used by composers [Peter Maxwell Davies](/source/Peter_Maxwell_Davies) and [Gillian Whitehead](/source/Gillian_Whitehead). The preludes were written when Ritchie took some time off from his freelance work to explore different approaches to composition.[14]

Ritchie's oratorio *Gallipoli to the Somme* which commemorated the one hundred year anniversary of the [Battle of the Somme](/source/Battle_of_the_Somme) was based on the book of the same name by [Alexander Aitken](/source/Alexander_Aitken), who was a soldier in the Otago battalion and later professor of mathematics at [Edinburgh University](/source/University_of_Edinburgh).[15] The oratorio had its premiere in Dunedin in 2016.[16] Its European premiere, with [Anna Leese](/source/Anna_Leese) as a soloist, was at the [Sheldonian Theatre](/source/Sheldonian_Theatre), Oxford in June 2018.[17] It was voted New Zealand's most popular piece of classical music in [RNZ Concert's](/source/RNZ_Concert) Settling the Score poll in 2020.[16]

In 2018, after 18 years of teaching composition, Ritchie became professor of composition in the Department of Music, Theatre and Performing Arts at the University of Otago.[18] In 2020 he became head of the School of Performing Arts, a three-year position.[16] Ritchie was made an Emeritus Professor on his retirement in April 2026.[3]

Ritchie's composition *Melencolia* was nominated for a 2026 Aotearoa Music Award in the Best Classical Artist of the Year category.[3]

## Award and honours

Ritchie received a Trust Fund award from the [Composers Association of New Zealand](/source/Composers_Association_of_New_Zealand) in 1998 in recognition of his achievements in composition.[19]

## Selected works

- Sonata for Solo Viola (1969)
- Concertino for Piano and Strings, op. 8 (1982)
- Piano Concerto, op. 9 (1982)
- String Quartet No. 1 (1983)
- Flute Concerto, op. 56 (1993)
- Symphony No. 1, *Boum*, op. 59 (1993)
- Viola Concerto, op. 64 (1994–95)
- *Star Fire,* opera, op. 68 (1995)
- Cartoon: Fantasy for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra, op. 70 (1996; revised in 2002 for release as "Oboe Sonata", op. 70b)
- Guitar Concerto, op. 79 (1997)
- *From the Southern Marches*, op. 81 (1998)
- Double Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Cello, op. 93 (1999)
- Symphony No. 2, *The Widening Gyre*, op. 95 (1999)
- *Ahua*, opera, op. 96 (2000)
- *24 Preludes*, for piano, op. 101 (2002)
- String Quartet No. 2 (2003)
- *Quartet*, opera, op. 108 (2004)
- *The God Boy,* opera, op. 111 (2004)
- "Clouds" for trombone with brass band or wind band, op. 114 (2005)
- Symphony No. 3, *Janus*, op. 150 (2010)
- Violin Concerto, op. 165 (2012)
- Symphony No. 4, *Stations*, op. 171 (2013)
- *Gallipoli to the Somme*, op. 191 (2016)
- Viola Concerto no. 2 (2018)
- Symphony No. 5, *Childhood*, op. 200 (2020)
- Symphony 6, op. 212 (2021)
- String Quartet No. 3 (2023)

## References

1. Thomson, John Mansfield (1990). *Biographical dictionary of New Zealand composers*. Wellington, N.Z.: Victoria University Press. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-86473-095-4. [OCLC 1083741834](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1083741834)

1. Kenneth Young. ["Resound"](http://www.radionz.co.nz/concert/programmes/resound/20101207). [Radio New Zealand](/source/Radio_New_Zealand)

1. University of Otago (2026-04-17). ["Composer Anthony Ritchie’s contribution to Otago celebrated"](https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/composer-anthony-ritchies-contribution-to-otago-celebrated). *www.otago.ac.nz*. Retrieved 2026-04-19.

1. Ritchie, Anthony (1986). [*The influence of folk music in Three Works by Béla Bartόk: Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano, Sonata (1926) for piano, and 'Contrasts' for violin, clarinet and piano*](https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/4608) (Doctoral thesis). UC Research Repository, University of Canterbury. [doi:10.26021/3622](https://doi.org/10.26021/3622). [hdl:10092/4608](https://hdl.handle.net/10092/4608)

1. Smith, Charmian (30 June 1998). "New work for Dunedin concert". *[Otago Daily Times](/source/Otago_Daily_Times)*. p. 9.

1. ["Professor Anthony Ritchie"](https://www.otago.ac.nz/performing-arts/staff/otago628646.html). 17 May 2021.

1. Smith, Charmian (19 October 1995). "Opera not too grand for Otago composers". *[Otago Daily Times](/source/Otago_Daily_Times)*. p. 26.

1. Manson, Bess (16 March 2004). "Thoroughly fraught about". *Dominion Post*. p. A12.

1. Dunbar, Anna (16 February 2000). "Settling scores". *Christchurch Press*. p. 34.

1. Ritchie, Anthony; Commons, Jeremy; Buchanan, Dorothy; Cross, Ian (2003). [*The God boy: opera in two acts*](https://www.aspresolver.com/aspresolver.asp?SHM2;1897666). [OCLC 1192430872](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1192430872)

1. Ritchie, Anthony (2004). "Creating an opera - notes on the composition of the god boy". *Canzona*. **25** (46): 56–59.

1. Fox, Rebecca (2017-08-31). ["In the moments before sleep"](https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/music/moments-sleep). *[Otago Daily Times](/source/Otago_Daily_Times)*. Retrieved 2021-07-09.

1. Johnson, Henry (June 2008). ["Composing Asia in New Zealand: gamelan and creativity"](https://www.nzasia.org.nz/uploads/1/3/2/1/132180707/5_johnson_3.pdf). *New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies*. **10** (1): 54–84.

1. Ritchie, Anthony (2003). "24 Preludes for piano: trying a new approach to composition". *Canzona*. **24** (45): 35–37.

1. ["Gallipoli to the Somme – Pāho"](https://humanities-research.otago.ac.nz/index.php/gallipoli-to-the-somme/) (in en-NZ). *University of Otago - Pāho*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170504042604/https://humanities-research.otago.ac.nz/index.php/gallipoli-to-the-somme/) 4 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-06-24.

1. Harwood, Brenda (2020-11-22). ["A year of creativity and challenges"](https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/year-creativity-and-challenges). *[Otago Daily Times](/source/Otago_Daily_Times)*. Retrieved 2021-07-05.

1. ["Anthony Ritchie speaks to Catherine Gilbert"](https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/anthony-ritchie-speaks-to-catherine-gilbert). *www.torch.ox.ac.uk*. Retrieved 2021-06-25.

1. ["Inaugural Professorial Lecture - Professor Anthony Ritchie"](https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/events/otago683745.html) (in en-nz). *University of Otago*. May 2018. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210710013245/https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/events/otago683745.html) 10 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-07-05.

1. "Trust fund awards". *Canzona*. **24** (45): 22. 2003.

## External links

- [Brief biography of composer](http://sounz.org.nz/contributor/composer/1082)
- [Home page](http://www.anthonyritchie.co.nz/index.html)
- [List of compositions 1978 to 2006](https://web.archive.org/web/20081014014844/http://anthonyritchie.co.nz/opus.html)
- [Profile at the University of Otago](https://web.archive.org/web/20110406180927/http://www.otago.ac.nz/Music/ourpeople/otago010103.html)
- [List of Concertos](https://web.archive.org/web/20081014015647/http://anthonyritchie.co.nz/concerto.html)
- [Photo of Anthony Ritchie and Dorothy Buchanan on Te Ara](https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/44649/anthony-ritchie-and-dorothy-buchanan)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Anthony Ritchie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Ritchie) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Ritchie?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.