He was General Editor of Cambridge Music Handbooks (c. 60 volumes), contributing Berlioz, Roméo et Juliette and Elgar, 'Enigma' Variations.
He was for 25 years chair of the Editorial Committee of Musica Britannica.
Rushton studied at Trinity College Cambridge under Raymond Leppard, and received a doctorate (DPhil.)
His thesis was on French tragic opera in the period dominated by Gluck (c.
[2] He taught at the University of East Anglia and then at Cambridge, holding a fellowship at King's College from 1974 until 1981, before being appointed to the West Riding Chair of Music at the University of Leeds.