Brian Bennett

Composer Brian Bennett is the three times winner of the Ivor Novello Award. Initially achieving fame as drummer with The Shadows, he has since forged a career as one of Britain's leading writers of music to picture. Brian was born in London in 1940 and by the late 1950s was one of the most sought-after percussionists around. He was drummer in residence at the legendary '2 Is' in Soho and a regular on Jack Good's ground breaking TV show Oh Boy. In 1961, he was invited to join Cliff Richard and The Shadows and wrote many of the hit songs from the films, including Summer Holiday (for which he won his first Ivor Novello award), Wonderful Life and Finders Keepers. In the 1970s, he became Cliff Richard's musical director and formed The Brian Bennett Orchestra touring the world including the first concerts to be staged in Russia. By the mid 1970s, Brian was in demand as an arranger, conductor and record producer and had already started composing for film and television. During the 1980s,