He then studied the organ and church music with Alfred Mitterhofer at the Academy of Music and Figurative Arts in Vienna where he graduated "cum laude". Later he specialized in the harpsichord under the guidance of Ton Koopman at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He was a prize-winner at the Paul Hofhaimer competition in Innsbruck (1983) and at the organ competition in Brugge (1985).

Patrick Ayrton has extensively performed throughout Europe, Japan, the United States and South America. He has played as a soloist or accompanist with ensembles and orchestras such as the ‘Amsterdam Bach Soloists’, the Brandenburg Consort, the Orchestre d’Auvergne, the Orchestre de Bretagne, the Münchner Kammerorchester or the‘Combattimento Consort Amsterdam’.

He has conducted various projects during baroque festivals such as the Otono Musical in Santander, Spain and the Journées Baroques du Château de Grignan, France. Last season he conducted the Chalon-Bourgogne orchestra in a programme of Bach cantatas with the soprano Emma Kirkby, as well as the Orchestre d’Auvergne, in a chamber music programme.

Patrick Ayrton teaches harpsichord, thorough-bass and chamber music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague as well as on yearly music courses in Italy and Austria (Summer Academy of the Mozarteum in Salzburg). He has given master-classes at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts and at the Gnessin School in Moscow.

He plays the main role in "Sir Francis Tregian: Gentleman and Musician", a film by the Swiss author and playwright Anne Cuneo. Patrick Ayrton has recorded for many labels as well as for various radio and television companies throughout the world. His CD recordings include works by William Byrd and J.S. Bach.