Howard, an Australian composer and conductor born in 1951, has made significant contributions to contemporary music. He began his formal studies in composition at the University of Sydney, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree with first-class honors in 1972. He continued his education at the University of Adelaide, graduating with a Master of Music in 1976. During his formative years, he was mentored by notable composers such as Peter Sculthorpe, Bernard Rands, and Richard Meale. His pursuit of further studies took him to Europe, aided by the Albert H. Maggs Travelling Scholarship in 1976, which allowed him to attend the Kompositionsstudio at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt. Additionally, he participated in a master class with Peter Maxwell Davies at the Cantiere Internationale d'Arte in Montepulciano. In 1985, Howard earned his Doctorate from the University of Melbourne.

In addition to his work as a composer, Howard has developed a robust career as a conductor. His conducting studies began in 1973 in Adelaide under Georg Tintner, continuing in Perth in 1974. He later received a short-term study grant from the Australian Council for the Arts, which enabled him to observe rehearsals conducted by Willem van Otterloo and Hiroyuki Iwaki. While in Europe in 1976, he also attended a conducting course with Michael Gielen at the Musik Akademie der Stadt Basel and received instruction from Sir Neville Marriner. Howard has conducted at various prestigious events, including the Perth and Adelaide Festivals and the New Audience concerts in Melbourne.

In 1977, Howard joined the Music Department at the University of Melbourne, where he taught composition and twentieth-century music. However, his career took him back to Europe in 1979 when he received a composer residency at the Cité des Arts in Paris. Following his time in Paris, he served as composer-in-residence with the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen and later with the Eduard van Beinum Foundation in Queekhoven, Holland.

Upon returning to Australia in 1982, Howard spent a year teaching at the University of New South Wales and the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music in Sydney. In 1983, he became the Musical Director for the West Australian Ballet and was appointed Head of Department at the Western Australian Conservatorium in 1985. He stepped down from this position in 1988 to focus on three commissions for the Australian Bicentenary: a ballet for the West Australian Ballet, a symphony for the ABC, and an opera titled Whitsunday for the Australian Opera.

In 1991, Howard was appointed Visiting Professor at the Conservatoire Lyon in France. Upon returning to Australia, he served as Dean of the Western Australian Conservatorium from 1992 to 1995. Throughout his career, Howard has composed for a variety of instrumental and vocal combinations, demonstrating a particular affinity for opera. His first operatic work, Inner Voices, was created for the Victorian State Opera in 1979, followed by Metamorphosis, with a libretto by Stephen Berkoff based on Franz Kafka's short story, and Whitsunday, which features a libretto by Louis Nowra, commissioned by the Australian Opera.