George Benjamin CBE

Sir George Benjamin will succeed Tania León as the London Philharmonic Orchestra's Composer-in-Residence from September 2025.

Benjamin is one of the leading figures in contemporary classical music. Born in 1960, he studied with Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire and with Alexander Goehr at King’s College, Cambridge. His early work Ringed by the Flat Horizon was performed at the 1980 BBC Proms when he was just 20, marking the start of a remarkable career. His works have been performed by notable conductors and orchestras worldwide, and his groundbreaking opera collaborations with playwright Martin Crimp have created the modern classics Into the Little Hill, Written on Skin, and Lessons in Love and Violence. His most recent opera, Picture a day like this, was premiered at the 2023 Aix-en-Provence Festival.

As a conductor, Benjamin has a broad repertoire, and has been responsible for numerous premieres including significant works by Wolfgang Rihm, Unsuk Chin, Tristan Murail, Gérard Grisey and György Ligeti. The Henry Purcell Professor of Composition at King’s College London since 2001, he has received numerous international awards, including a knighthood in 2017 and the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2023.

As LPO Composer-in-Residence, George Benjamin will participate in rehearsals and performances of his music and, in 2025/26, will conduct an LPO concert featuring one of his compositions. He will also serve as mentor to the five participants selected each year for the LPO Young Composers programme, which aims to support the progression of talented orchestral composers.