As keyboardist and later conductor, British-born Patrick Ayrton has been a mainstay of the historical performance scene, especially in his adopted country of the Netherlands. He is also a noted educator.

Ayrton was born in London in 1961. He began his musical career studying piano but soon switched to organ and harpsichord, studying first in Switzerland and then at the Academy of Music and Figurative Arts in Vienna with Alfred Mitterhofer, Michael Radulescu, and Erwin Ortner. He went on for further studies in the Netherlands with Ton Koopman and has remained in that country, teaching improvisation, continuo, and chamber music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Ayrton's solo career has taken him to many countries; he has appeared with both modern-instrument ensembles, including the London Symphony Orchestra, and historically oriented ones, including the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam. Dutch conductor Arie van Beek encouraged him to develop his own skills as a conductor, and his activities in that area have been similarly varied, including appearances with the Orchestra of the Auvergne, the Latvian Radio Choir, and the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. He also founded his own Baroque instrumental ensemble, Les Inventions, a period-instrument ensemble that aims to explore unknown 18th century repertoire, such as the works of Joseph Touchemoulin and Thomas Linley. Les Inventions have often worked with the British vocal group Voces8. Ayrton has recorded several albums for the Globe label, including the jazz-Baroque fusion album Some Like It Plucked (2019). ~ James Manheim, Rovi