George Benjamin

Born in London in 1960, George Benjamin studied piano from the age of seven and began composing two years later. In 1976, he entered the Paris Conservatoire, before studying at King's College Cambridge (1978-1982). Ringed by the Flat Horizon was performed at the BBC Proms when he was just twenty. Benjamin lives and teaches in London, where he has held the Henry Purcell Chair at King's College since 2001. As a conductor, he directed Pelléas et Mélisande at La Monnaie in Brussels (1999), as well as the most prestigious European orchestras and ensembles, including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the London Sinfonietta and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. In 2006, he created Into the Little Hill, based on a libretto by Martin Crimp, as part of a series of works devoted to him by the Festival d'Automne à Paris, in association with the Opéra national de Paris. This production was subsequently revived in Amsterdam, New York, Frankfurt, Liverpool, Lucerne, Turin and Milan. New performances, both concert and stage versions, have been given throughout the world, from Ojai to Beijing. In 2023, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Foundation Prize for Music.