Butler’s works are widely performed and broadcast both in the UK and abroad. He has received commissions from, amongst others, the BBC (O Rio was first performed at the 1991 Proms), the London Sinfonietta (Concertino and Jazz Machines, the latter of which was played at the 1995 Venice Biennale), and the Cheltenham and Canterbury festivals. In June 1994 Mecklenburgh Opera premièred the operatic adventure story Craig’s Progress, with a libretto by Stephen Pruslin, which was adapted for radio broadcast by BBC Radio 3. Butler was Featured Composer at the 1995 Vale of Glamorgan Festival where his Clarinet Quintet was premièred, and of the Park Lane Group’s January 2002 concert series.
Since 2006, Martin Butler has been the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s first ever ‘Composer in Focus’. The orchestra has already performed several large-scale works during this period, including a performance of the Concertino for piano and chamber orchestra, with the composer as pianist. His tenure culminated in two major performances of a new commission for the orchestra, From the Fairground of Dreams in January and March 2008 at Brighton Dome Concert Hall, conducted by Barry Wordsworth. He is currently Professor of Music at the University of Sussex.
