Buxton Orr Biography

Buxton Orr was born in Glasgow in 1924 and was a pupil of Benjamin Frankel at the Guildhall School of Music in London, where he served as a professor from 1965 until 1990. His interest in jazz was reflected in his work as conductor from 1970 to 1980 of the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra and he was founder of the Contemporary Music Ensemble at the Guildhall. His compositions reflect various influences, and his earlier career brought a number of film scores. A Carmen Fantasy, for cello and piano, was written for the cellist Robert Cohen for inclusion in a New York recital in October 1985. The work was later arranged for cello and orchestra.