Jeremy Dale Roberts was born in Gloucestershire in 1934 and studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music with William Alwyn and Priaulx Rainier before taking a degree in music at the University of Durham.
His compositions have been performed worldwide at the Edinburgh and Aldeburgh Festivals, the Venice Biennale, the Diorama de Geneve, and the festivals of Avignon and Paris. They include the Cello Concerto - Deathwatch written for Rohan de Saram; Tombeau for Stephen Kovacevich; Croquis for string trio, written for members of the Arditti Quartet (BBC commission); In the Same Space, nine poems of Constantin Cavafy, written for Stephen Varcoe; Lines of Life, lyric episodes for ensemble, written for Lontano (BBC commission); and Casidas y Sonetos - del amor oscuro, for solo guitar (Arts Council commission) for Charles Ramirez. He has also worked frequently with Peter Sheppard-Skaerved and the Kreutzer Quartet, most recently on the String Quintet (2013).
Jeremy Dale Roberts’s music has been described as 'deeply personal, visionary, conveying his own distinctive creative voice'. Occasionally it displays a taste for unconventional, sometimes exotic media: for instance, Hamadryad for alto flute, viola and guitar; the large sequence of pieces for gamelan entitled Stelae; and Nightpiece for soprano and two bass viols, commissioned by Evelyn Tubb. But he has also written a good deal for his own instrument, the piano, most notably Oggetti – Omaggio à Morandi, inspired by the still-lifes of the great 20th century Italian artist.
As well as composition, he has been active as a teacher for many years, notably at Morley College, the Royal College of Music (1966-98, latterly as Head of Composition) and as Visiting Professor of Composition at the University of Iowa (1999-2000, 2004). Other activities include work for the Finzi Trust and the RVW Trust, and extensive editorial work on the recently published editions of Gerald Finzi’s music. His interests include the fine arts, literature, gardening and travelling: shortly after graduating he spent two years in Cameroon, and in recent years has been to Mexico, Russia, Korea, South-East Asia, and Ladakh, as well as a regular visitor to South Africa.
He is married to Paulette, (née Zwahlen), a shiatsu practitioner, whom he met at Ashmansworth, the home of the Finzi family. Their two children, Antoinette and Luke, have provided them with three grandchildren, Zoe and Mia and Finley.
Jeremy Dale Roberts passed away in 2017. He was a highly distinguished composer with whom it was an absolute pleasure to work. We are proud to have him in our catalogue.