Ed Bennett (born 15 March 1975) is a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of contemporary art music.

Biography

Bennett was born in

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Having studied with Brian Irvine at North Down College and with Michael Finnissy at the

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

, London, Bennett states that "Striving for perfection leads me to boredom. I like to be surprised by music, staying on the outside of things and occasionally dipping in and taking what I need to try to create something new." He has also worked with

Heiner Goebbels Heiner Goebbels (born 17 August 1952) is a German composer, Conductor (music), conductor and professor at University of Giessen, Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen and artistic director of the International Festival of the Arts Ruhrtriennale 201 ...

during his residency in

Birmingham Conservatoire Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and doct ...

. In 2007 he was a finalist in the British Composer Awards. He has had works performed by

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, Moving on Music,

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, PRSF, Music Network, Integra and the arts councils of England, Ireland and Northern Ireland. Bennett's work has been commissioned and performed internationally by many different artists, organisations and ensembles including the PRSF,

, Moving on Music, Music Network and the arts councils of Ireland, Northern Ireland and England. Listed among the collaborators and performers of his work are RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland,

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast, the orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Kingdom ...

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra 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 Media ...

National Orchestra of Belgium The Belgian National Orchestra (, ) is a Belgian orchestra, based in Brussels. Its principal concert venue is the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR). The orchestra also gives concerts outside Brussels in such cities as Sankt-Vith and Hasselt. ...

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber music, chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert ...

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

Fidelio Trio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicola ...

, Berlin Percussion Ensemble, Smith Quartet, Crash Ensemble, Orkest de ereprijs, Ensemble SurPlus, Lontano, Noszferatu, Ensemble Ars Nova, Garth Knox, Pedro Carneiro, Reinbert de Leeuw,

James MacMillan Sir James Loy MacMillan, TOSD (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is Jam ...

, Darragh Morgan, Mary Dullea, Rolf Hind,

Paul Dunmall Paul Dunmall (born 6 May 1953) is a British jazz musician who plays tenor and soprano saxophone, as well as the baritone and the more exotic saxello and the Northumbrian smallpipes. He has played with Keith Tippett and Barry Guy. In the earl ...

and

. He also performs with and directs his own ensemble, Decibel. In 2012 he was awarded the

Philip Leverhulme Prize The Philip Leverhulme Prize is awarded by the Leverhulme Trust to recognise the achievement of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising. The prize sche ...

for the

Performing Arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

. In the same year, he was commissioned to write a piece for the Northern Irish "Opera Shorts" series, which was performed in Belfast and in London as part of the Olympics Festival. It was credited in ''The Irish Times'' as being a memorable highlight and was mentioned in ''The Guardian'' for its playfulness. He is currently at

where he is the recipient of a research fellowship and active as a teacher in the composition department.

Discography

* Dzama Stories – Music influenced by artist Marcel Dzama, Quartz * My Broken Machines (NMC Recordings) * Togetherness (Diatribe Records) * Contemporary Music from Ireland, Volume 10 – An appearance on the best of Irish composers' of Northern Ireland * Between (Diatribe Recordings) * Music From Northern Ireland (Lontano Records)

References

External links

*
Ed Bennett works available at Composers Edition

Ed Bennett at Contemporary Music Centre IrelandEd Bennett on Association of Irish ComposersListen to Ed Bennett's ''Ausland'' on BBC's Hear And Now
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Ed 1975 births 21st-century classical composers from Northern Ireland Academics of Birmingham City University Living people Male classical composers from Northern Ireland Musicians from County Down People from Bangor, County Down 21st-century male composers from Northern Ireland Academics of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire