Our friend and colleague John Marlow Rhys, who has died aged 76, was a composer and teacher. Perhaps his best known work is the chamber piece Capriccio, which was first performed by the Nash Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall in London in 1978, and subsequently received numerous performances and broadcasts.
His many awards and prizes included the Special Chandos award for composition at the Musica Nova festival in Glasgow in 1977; the Ian Whyte award from the Scottish National Orchestra in 1985 for Capriccio, which led to the commissioning by the orchestra of his symphonic piece Aquileia; and the Hungarian Composers' Union Millennium prize in 2000 for Kinetika, written for two pianos and two percussionists.
John was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and graduated in music from Exeter College, Oxford, followed by a DPhil in composition from York University. Stylistically, his music embraced a wide range of influences and his output included works for many different combinations, always inspired by the musical personalities of the performers.
He was as skilled at writing music for schools and amateur orchestras as for seasoned professional performers, ensembles and orchestras, but he never compromised his artistic standards. He always said that his experience as a teacher, arranger and conductor was a crucial part of his personal development as a composer. During his career, he was a lecturer at Southwark College, in London (1970-82); director of music at Farnham college (1982-87) and Esher college (1987-92) in Surrey; and a visiting lecturer at Brunel University, west London (1993-95).
Like all composers, he would have wished for greater recognition and more opportunities, but his music travelled widely. John was always eager to discuss and comment on music he had heard and he combined deeply serious musical integrity with a keen intellect and an encyclopedic knowledge. He was a formidable raconteur and friends have wonderful memories of times with John and his wife Marianne, where the combination of musical discussion and excellent food and drink left one enriched by the quality of the debate and the warmth of their welcome.
John is survived by Marianne, and their sons Oliver and Dominic; and by his brother, Paul.