Major award for Ed Bennett

Ed Bennett has won a Philip Leverhulme Trust Prize in Performing and Visual Arts, a prize of £70,000 to be spread over 2-3 years of research.

The Philip Leverhulme Prizes are awarded to outstanding scholars who have made a substantial contribution to their particular field of study. Ed Bennett intends to use the prize money towards developing his work with his contemporary music ensemble, Decibel, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of new and experimental cross-discipline work.

Ed Bennett is originally from Co. Down and studied composition at North Down College before continuing at the Guilhall School of Music and Drama in London. A tutor in composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Ed Bennett says about winning the prize:

“I am absolutely thrilled and honoured to have been awarded the Leverhulme Prize. It will enable me to continue my compositional research and realise projects which up until now have only been ideas, this substantial award will mean that those ideas can now be brought to life. I am also delighted that the composition department at the Conservatoire nominated me for this amazing opportunity.”

A CD of Ed Bennett’s music, My Broken Machines, was released earlier this year on the NMC Recording label. Ed is also one of the featured composers on CMC’s latest promotional CD, Contemporary Music from Ireland, Volume 10.