Richard Rodney Bennett at 70
12th January 2006
© Katie Vandyck
Richard Rodney Bennett is 70 this March. As one of Britain’s most respected and versatile composers, he has produced over two hundred works for the concert hall, and fifty scores for film and television, as well as having been a writer and performer of jazz songs for fifty years. A recipient of many awards and honours throughout his lifetime, he received the Ivor Novello Classical Award in 2004, and was knighted for Services to Music in 1998.
The celebration concerts are to be given by an extraordinary array of top performers. The BBC Concert Orchestra will present a programme of film scores and orchestra music on March 2. Paul Watkins is the soloist in the world premiere of Bennett’s new cello concerto Reflections on a Scottish Folk Song with the Philharmonia Orchestra on March 9.
Singers Sophie Daneman and Jonathan Lemalu take part in ‘A Richard Rodney Bennett Songbook’ at Wigmore Hall on March 28, alongside Bennett and cabaret partner Claire Martin with their winning brand of sophisticated jazz. The BBC Symphony Orchestra presents a portrait day which brings in the BBC Singers and Chorus on April 8 with a wide variety of works.
There are many other events taking place throughout the UK . For more information about the birthday celebrations and Richard Rodney Bennett’s music in general, please contact David Smith.
