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Ben Foskett is a composer, songwriter and arranger working across many different genres from classical concert music to ballet, dance, theatre, pop, film, TV, and sound libraries. Born in Germany in 1977, Foskett began his musical education at the Royal College of Music Junior department where he went on to study with Edwin Roxburgh. It was there that he wrote a remarkable set of orchestral songs, Three Gascoyne Settings. Foskett then went on to study with Simon Bainbridge at the Royal Academy of Music until 2003, after which he has earned his living entirely as a musician – composing, copying and working as an orchestrator for composers including Joby Talbot and Christian Henson.
Foskett’s music has been characterized by a strong narrative sense, evident in a series of collaborations with the dance company Thresh, where music and movement have often evolved in tandem. Foskett has also worked on more traditional, full-length scores, such as The Scarlet Pimpernel for the London Children’s Ballet in 2006. Writing for dance has influenced Foskett‘s composition for other pieces like his clarinet solo Hornet, which premiered in the Park Lane Group Series in 2002, and its ensemble “double,” Hornet II.
Throughout his career, Foskett has worked with musicians, ensembles, and companies such as the London Sinfonietta, BBC Proms, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Spitfire Audio, Psappha, BalletBoyz, Didy Veldman/Umanoove, Thresh, Les Désespérant Idiots, The Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, London Children’s Ballet, Christian Gerhaher, The Divine Comedy, Travis, and Keaton Henson, as well as on films and TV series such as King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and Poirot.