George Benjamin (composer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Benjamin (born January 31, 1960) is a British composer of classical music, and also a conductor, pianist and teacher.

Born in London, he studied with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire during the second half of the 1970s, reputedly becoming Messiaen's favourite pupil.

He then read music at King's College, Cambridge, studying under Alexander Goehr, and emerged in his early twenties as a surprisingly mature and confident voice. His orchestral Ringed by the Flat Horizon (written for the Cambridge University Musical Society and premiered in Cambridge under the baton of Mark Elder on March 5, 1980) was performed at The Proms that August, while he was still a student, making him the youngest composer ever to have had music performed at the Proms.

Since the 1980s he has fulfilled a number of large commissions, including Sudden Time (for orchestra), Three Inventions (for chamber orchestra) and Antara (for ensemble and electronics, realised at IRCAM and the first composition ever published using the Sibelius notation program).

Benjamin's music is seen by many as carefully crafted and governed by an overriding seriousness, yet colourful and even flamboyant in style.

He has taught composition at the Royal College of Music, London, and currently teaches at King's College London. He lives in London and regularly conducts the London Sinfonietta.