One of today’s most prominent composer-conductors, George Benjamin was born in 1960 and began composing at the age of seven.
Benjamin will conduct the world premiere Picture a day like this at the Aix-en-Provence opera festival in July 2023. As with his previous three operatic scores, the text was written by playwright Martin Crimp. Into the Little Hill, was commissioned by the 2006 Festival d’Automne in Paris. Since its premiere in Aix in 2012, Written on Skin has won many international prizes and has been seen in numerous different productions world-wide. Lessons in Love and Violence, was premiered at the Royal Opera House in May 2018 and many performances have been scheduled around the world.
As a conductor Benjamin has a broad repertoire – ranging from Mozart and Schumann to Knussen and Abrahamsen - and has been responsible for numerous premieres, including important works by Rihm, Chin, Murail, Grisey and Ligeti. Over many years he has developed a particularly close association with Ensemble Modern, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the latter giving the world premiere of his Concerto for Orchestra at the 2021 BBC Proms under his baton.
Since 2001 Benjamin has been the Henry Purcell Professor of Composition at King‘s College London. He has received numerous honorary fellowships and international awards including being knighted in the 2017 Birthday Honours, and most recently Benjamin has been made the 50th laureate of the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.
