Early success came when "Antiphonies", written for the Portia Ensemble, was premiered at the Purcell Room in November 1967, with the composer conducting.
Whilst at York he was also a founder member of Gentle Fire[1], which became one of the leading groups performing experimental and live electronic music.
Harrex was awarded a French Government Scholarship, which enabled him to spend a year in Paris after graduating from York in 1968; here he attended Olivier Messiaen’s composition class at the Conservatoire and studied privately with Gilbert Amy.
His works are performed widely, live and on radio, and commercially recorded not only in the UK but also in continental Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.
He was a founder member and is a past chairman of New Music Brighton [2], a collective of composers living or working in the Sussex area.