[1] Born in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, Richard Charteris graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a BA in 1970.
He then pursued graduate studies at the University of Canterbury where he earned a MA in 1972 and a doctorate in 1976.
[1] Charteris has published a large number of works, particularly scholarly publications on European music of the 16th and 17th centuries.
He is a recognized expert on historically informed performance, and has collaborated with early music ensembles like Paul McCreesh's Gabrieli Consort & Players to make recordings for labels like Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, EMI Classics, and Hyperion among others.
He has also written extensively on the composers J.C. Bach, Giovanni Croce, Hans Leo Hassler, John Hingeston, Thomas Lupo, Claudio Monteverdi and Adam Gumpelzhaimer.