Luke Bedford (born 25 April 1978 in Wokingham, Berkshire) is a British composer.
He was educated at St Crispin's School in Wokingham. He studied composition with Edwin Roxburgh and Simon Bainbridge at the Royal College of Music, and won the Mendelssohn Scholarship in 2000. This was followed by post-graduate study with Simon Bainbridge at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2007 Bedford signed to Universal Edition London.
Awards include the 2000 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize for composers under 29 and the 2004 BBC Radio 3 Listeners' Award at the British Composer Awards. In 2007, Bedford became the first compositional recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Artists' Award since David Sawer in 1993. 2007 also saw him receive a nomination for the Royal Philharmonic Society large-scale composition prize, for his song cycle Or Voit Tout En Aventure. In 2008, Bedford received his second British Composer Award for his 2007 orchestral work Wreathe.
On the 24th January 2008, director of the Wigmore Hall John Gilhooly announced Bedford as the venue's first ever Composer-in-Residence. “Luke Bedford is an important young voice and a distinctive musical force, and we are very pleased that he has accepted our invitation to become our Composer-in-Residence from 2009. The position will involve composition as well as working with the Hall’s Community & Education programme.”
Luke is married to Katie (née Fox), and currently resides in Berlin.
Five Abstracts (2000-2001) for 14 players
Catafalque (2002) for large ensemble
Catafalque (2002) for piano
Chiaroscuro (2002/2005) for violin, violoncello and piano
Man Shoots Strangers from Skyscraper (2002) for 8 players
Rode with Darkness (2003) for orchestra
Slow Music (2005) for 8 players
Or Voit Tout En Aventure (2006) for soprano and 16 players
Outblaze the Sky (2007) for orchestra
Wreathe (2007) for orchestra
Good Dream She Has (2007) for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble
On Time (2008) for choir and orchestra
Upon St. George's Hill (2008) for tenor and guitar
By the Screen in the Sun at the Hill on the Gold (2008) for 18 players
Of the Air (2008/2009) for string quartet
Self-Assembly Composition No. 1 (2009) for any instruments
Great Bass Rackett (2009) for solo bassoon
Più Mosso (2009) for large orchestra