James Chater

Who is James Chater?

James Chater, British composer and musicologist, was born in Henley-on-Thames in 1951 and studied music at the University of Oxford, taking the BA in 1973 and the D.Phil. in 1980. His thesis, Luca Marenzio and the Italian Madrigal, 1577-1593, was published as a book in 1981. He is the author of many articles on secular music in Italy in the late 16th century; these have appeared in Early Music, the Journal of American Musicology, Journal of Musicology, Music & Letters, The Musical Times, Notes, the Rivista italiana di musicologia, Il saggiatore musicale, Studi musicali and other periodicals and Festschrifts. In his writings several previously anonymous madrigal texts are identified, and the intimate ties between poets, musicians and patrons are explored. Chater was a Fellow of the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies from 1981–82.

From 1982 to 1986 James Chater taught history of music at the University of Wales, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia.