Robert Worby is a London-based composer, sound artist, writer and broadcaster. In the late 1970s, he played guitar and tapes in a post-punk band called The Distributors. The band released several singles, recorded two Radio 1 sessions for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

and played regularly with This Heat, The Raincoats and other bands of that era. In the 1980s, Worby received awards from the Arts Council of Great Britain to work as a composer and undertake a number of residencies. At this time he also worked with

The Mekons The Mekons are a British Post-punk band formed in 1976 as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of co ...

. In 1989, he was invited to work with

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

, at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. In 1994, he began assisting the composer

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

working on several films, concert music and the opera ''Facing Goya''. In the mid 1990s, Worby began broadcasting on Radio 3 presenting a five-part series entitled ''Cacophony Now!'' that explored how dissonance and noise, interface with contemporary music. Most recently, he has been a regular presenter of ''Hear and Now'', the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's main contemporary music programme. In addition, Worby has made several features on subjects including the work of

Daphne Oram Daphne Blake Oram (31 December 1925 – 5 January 2003) was a British composer and electronic musician. She was one of the first British composers to produce electronic sound, and was an early practitioner of ''musique concrète'' in the UK. As ...

, the founder of the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce Incidental music, incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering ...

, and the music of

Luigi Russolo Luigi Carlo Filippo Russolo (30 April 1885 – 4 February 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto '' The Art of Noises'' (1913). Russolo completed his second ...

. Along with colleagues from the BBC and

Sonic Arts Network Sonic Arts Network was a UK-based organisation, established in 1979, that aimed to enable both audiences and practitioners to engage with the art of sound through a programme of festivals, events, commissions and education projects. Its honorary ...

, Worby founded the Cut & Splice festival of electronic music and sound art in 2002.

External links

Robert Worby Official WebsiteBBC Official page on Robert Worby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worby, Robert English composers English writers Living people English radio presenters The Mekons members Year of birth missing (living people)