Butterly studied at the NSW State Conservatorium and with Priaulx Rainier in London. He held teaching positions at the conservatories in Sydney and Newcastle, NSW. His early compositions were influenced by Hindemith, Bartók, and Shostakovich, and are often rooted in Christian mysticism. He later experimented with timbral and aleatoric devices in choirs of percussion and wind in conjunction with vocal parts that are sung, shouted, or whispered, as well as electronic music and tape. ~ Lynn Vought, Rovi