Born in London in 1953, Anthony Powers studied at Oxford, in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, and at York with David Blake and Bernard Rands. He divides his time between composing and teaching, currently at Cardiff University, where he is Professor of composition. His instrumental works are widely performed in the UK and overseas by leading artists and ensembles and he is commissioned regularly, notably by the BBC for the orchestral pieces Stone, Water, Stars (1987) and Terrain (1993), and the cantata A Picture of the World (2001). His most recent major choral work, Air and Angels, was premièred at the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford in August 2003. Powers' music often takes its inspiration from the tension between different states, be they physical properties, landscapes, seasons, or emotions.