Robert Torday read English at Cambridge University. He worked initially as an editorial assistant at The Burlington Magazine under editor Neil MacGregor, before winning a scholarship to The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he gained a Diploma in Opera Studies. This led to a couple of seasons at Glyndebourne Opera and various roles with British Youth Opera, The King’s Consort and at international opera festivals in Toronto, Beirut and Athens. Following a series of concerts as bass soloist in The Messiah with The Vienna Boys’ Choir, he changed tack and embarked on a marketing career.
In 1999 he was appointed as Head of Communications at the Richard Rogers Partnership where he steered the media campaign for the launch of the Millennium Dome (now the O2), supported Rogers’ role as an adviser to Ken Livingstone, then Mayor of London, orchestrated press campaigns for specific projects such as the Bordeaux Law Courts and Heathrow Terminal 5, and publicised an exhibition staged by the practice at the Venice Architecture Biennale.
Robert was subsequently appointed as Marketing Director at John McAslan + Partners, managing the international media campaigns for the redevelopment of King’s Cross Station and a newly completed amphitheatre in Kigali, marking the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. In 2004 Robert established his own agency representing leading architecture studios including Conran and Partners and Hopkins Architects. In 2020 Robert enrolled at the Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling and now practices as a psychotherapeutic counsellor. He lives in Bristol with his partner who is a boat builder.
His first book was shortlisted for the inaugural Footnote x Counterpoints Writing Prize in 2024 and will be published by Hutchinson Heinemann in Spring 2026.
Agent: Doug Young