Hedges was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire, and studied music at Keble College Oxford, where his tutors included Thomas Armstrong.
After his death in June 2019 his daughter Fiona Hedges acted as executor, owner and promoter of his music.
[5] Hedges is often regarded primarily as a light-music composer due to the large number of recordings of his light orchestral music, such as the Four Miniature Dances (1967) and the popular Kingston Sketches of 1969.
[4][5] His orchestral works include two symphonies, a Sinfonia Concertante, concertinos for flute, horn, trumpet, bassoon, and the Variations on a theme of Rameau.
Hedges' chamber-music output was also extensive, from solo to ensemble works and his vocal compositions equally numerous and varied.