Ben Foster (born 1977) is a BAFTA award-winning British composer, best known for his work on the BBC series ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

'' and as orchestrator for Murray Gold on ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' and for Marc Streitenfeld on ''

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

'' and '' The Grey''. He is also known for his work as the conductor for

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

's ''Scratch my Back'' world tour and albums, and for the BBC Proms ''Doctor Who'' events.

Career

Foster studied Composition and Conducting at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

, graduating in 2000. He was awarded the Lutosławski composition prize. He is a graduate of the

National Film and Television School The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Rep ...

, where he studied with Francis Shaw and Peter Howell (the latter having composed for the BBC series ''

'', with which Foster would later become associated).

''Doctor Who'' and ''Torchwood''

Since November 2005, Foster has worked as orchestrator and conductor for composer Murray Gold on ''Doctor Who''. He also conducted the

BBC National Orchestra of Wales The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...

in ''Doctor Who: A Celebration'', which was held at the

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre ( cy, Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 an ...

on 19 November 2006 in aid of Children in Need. The concert was followed by the release of the first ''Doctor Who'' Soundtrack CD which includes music from series 1 and 2 of the programme. This was released on 11 December 2006 on Silva Screen Records. On 5 November 2007, Silva Screen Records released The Soundtrack from Series 3. On 17 November 2008, The Soundtrack from Series 4, followed 10 days later by the broadcast of the first '' Doctor Who Prom''. Foster arranged the music and conducted the

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Med ...

at this event, which was part of

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

. On 24 and 25 July 2010, Foster again arranged and conducted Murray Gold's scores from Seasons 4+5 in '' the Doctor Who Proms'', an event followed by the release of The ''Doctor Who'' 2008–2010 specials soundtrack on 4 October, and the Series 5 soundtrack on 8 November. March 2011 saw the release of the soundtrack for the 2010 Christmas special, ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...

'', and on 19 December of that year, the soundtrack for Series 6 was released. Foster arranged and conducted Gold's music from Series 6 and 7, as well as some music from the classic (1963–89) years by

Tristram Cary Tristram Ogilvie Cary, OAM (14 May 192524 April 2008), was a pioneering English-Australian composer. He was also active as a teacher and music critic. Career Cary was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and We ...

Martin Slavin Martin Slavin (19 February 1922 – 25 May 1988) was a British composer and music director. Biography Slavin was born in London. He served in the army as a Band Sergeant, and after demobilization formed his own seven piece band, working ...

Malcolm Clarke Malcolm Clarke may refer to: * Malcolm Clarke (zoologist) (1930–2013), British marine biologist *Malcolm Clarke (composer) (1943–2003), British composer * Malcolm Clarke (footballer) (1944–2004), Scottish footballer *Malcolm Clarke (film maker ...

, Dudley Simpson, Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell and

Mark Ayres Mark Ayres is an electronic musician, composer and audio engineer. Ayres studied music and electronics at Keele University. He also worked as a sound engineer at TV-am between 1982 and 1987. As a television composer, he became known for providi ...

, for the third ''Doctor Who'' prom, performed at the Royal Albert Hall in August 2013, which was followed by the soundtrack releases for the seventh series and the 2011 and 2012 Christmas specials, on 9 September and 21 October respectively. He also acted as Musical Director and Arranger for ''Doctor Who Live'' – which toured the UK in October – November 2010, conducting his 16-piece band. Foster also composed music for the first three series of the BBC drama (and ''Doctor Who'' spin-off) ''

''. His work on the show has earned him three nominations in the Best Music category at the 2006, 2007 and 2009 BAFTA Cymru Awards.

Silva Screen Records Silva is a surname in Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Portugal and Brazil. It is derived from the Latin word , meaning "forest" or "woodland". It is the family name of the House of Silva. The name is also widespread in Galician-speaking ...

released a soundtrack album composed of his work on the first and second series in September 2008 and in July 2009 released the ''Children of Earth'' soundtrack. Foster conducted the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on f ...

in ''Doctor Who – A Symphonic Spectacular'' which took place on 4 February 2012, and 31 January 2014, at the

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, colloquially referred to as "Jeff's Shed," is a group of three adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The venues are ow ...

in Australia. In December 2012 he conducted Sydney-based Metropolitan Orchestra in the ''Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular'' at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

. Foster left his role as Doctor Who conductor and orchestrator in 2015 and was replaced by

Alastair King Alastair King (born 1967) is a British composer and conductor, perhaps best known for his musical contributions to film and television. He frequently collaborates with composers Charlie Mole, Geoff Zanelli, Nicholas Hooper and Rupert Gregson- ...

, who has recently taken up the full role for Series 10.

Other works

As a composer, Foster's early professional work includes theme tunes to '' Love on a Saturday Night'', ''The 1970's Office'' and ''The Great British Test Series'' all for LWT as well as a host of commercials, working for the Mcasso Music agency. Other commercials he has worked on include award winning commercials for Soundtree Music such as Sony Paint and the 2007 Sony Walkman. Foster's resume as an orchestrator and conductor for film includes ''

27 Dresses ''27 Dresses'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher, written by Aline Brosh McKenna, and starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The film was released in Australia on January 10, 2008, and in the United States on ...

'', '' The Mummy 3'', ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...

'', ''Robin Hood'', ''Hoodwinked Too'', ''The Grey''. In 2005 Foster re-arranged the theme tune to ''BBC Question Time'' which is currently running on BBC2. Foster was a judge on the

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

Music Makers project in 2006, a contributor to the Blue Peter Movie Makers project in 2007 and chair of the judging panel for BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008. He also contributed to the CBBC project Clash. Ben's early work as an arranger and conductor included work for

Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, '' Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million ...

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for ...

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

S Club 7 S Club 7 were a British pop group from London, created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and consisting of members Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens and Tina Barrett. The gro ...

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

Toploader Toploader are an English rock band from Eastbourne, East Sussex, formed in 1997, with over two million album sales and several top 20 hits both home and abroad. Their debut album, '' Onka's Big Moka'', sold over one million units and peaked ...

and others. Ben has worked extensively with the singer and composer Peter Gabriel since 2009, conducting his last two studio albums with the New Blood Orchestra and touring the 'New Blood' project across the world. He works regularly with the London Session Orchestra and the

and has also worked with the

, RPO,

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

and the Czech Film Orchestra. Recent work includes the themes and music for BBC Cardiff Singer of the World (2011) and BBC Young Musician (2012). He also co-wrote the music (with Murray Gold) for Scott & Bailey for

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

. He composed the score and arranged songs for a biopic of Dame

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalist ...

for

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

which aired in September 2011. Foster has been credited within BBC One's 2014 drama '' Happy Valley'' closing titles as the 'Composer'. In 2015, Foster and his brother Nick worked on the soundtrack for CITV's '' Thunderbirds Are Go''. In 2016, Foster and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra had composed a revamped version of the opening theme for the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irela ...

series " Still Game".

Filmography

Television

Film

Footnotes

External links

* at Manners McDade * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Ben 1977 births Living people British male conductors (music) Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians