George Benjamin (composer)
Encyclopedia : G : GE : GEO : George Benjamin (composer)
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 Ringed by the Flat Horizon was premiered at the Proms concerts while he was still a student, making him the youngest composer ever to have music performed at the Proms.
Since the 1980s he has fulfilled a number of large commissions, including Sudden Time and Three Inventions (for orchestra) and Antara (for ensemble and electronics, realised at IRCAM).
Benjamin's music is seen by many as colourful and sometimes even flamboyant in style, but carefully crafted and governed by an overriding seriousness.
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 for the London Sinfonietta.
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.