Benjamin Till, 2015 Random Composer Award Winner
BAFTA-nominated Composer/ director, Benjamin Till grew up in the Midlands (UK), and studied composition at York University, before training as a theatre director at Mountview Drama School.
He worked in theatre for ten years, most notably with playwright Sir Arnold Wesker, with whom he has written a musical, Letter to a Daughter, a radio play The Rocking Horse and several arts songs. Sir Arnold even sings on the CD release of Benjamin’s The London Requiem.
Benjamin directed Someone Whistled (London Pleasance) Little By Little (Arts Theatre) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (Blewbury Open Air Theatre.). He worked as Resident Director for the best part of two years on Boy George’s Taboo in the West End, and was Associate Director on a string of Raymond Gubbay operas at the Albert Hall.
In 2005, after a year-long sojourn into casting feature films with Shaheen Baig (Brick Lane, Control, 28 Weeks Later - on which he was also the acting coach) he moved into TV films. He composed and directed: Hampstead Heath: The Musical (BBC, RTS Award nominated), Coventry Market: the Musical (BBC, SONY nominated, winner of 2 Gillard Awards) A1: The Road Musical (Channel 4, Grierson nominated, best newcomer 2008), Watford Gap! (BBC, Gillard nominated) The Busker Symphony (Channel 4 – winner, best composition, Music Aid Awards) Tyne and Wear Metro: The Musical (BBC, Gillard and RTS award winning, SONY nominated) Children In Need: the Musical (BBC) A Symphony for Yorkshire (BBC – winner Prix de Circom and three RTS Awards including best music) Songs From Hattersley (BBC), 100 Faces (BBC) Tales of the White City (BBC). He wrote incidental songs for the BBC’s Harry and Paul.
He is perhaps best known as the composer, conceiver and one of the grooms of the BAFTA-nominated, Our Gay Wedding: the Musical. The show won the Grierson award for Best Entertaining Documentary 2014, and the 2015 Prix Italia for best Performing Arts TV programme. It was nominated for TV moment of the year and most innovative programme in the Guardian TV Awards, as best music programme in the Broadcast Awards and best arts programme in the RTS Awards and the Rose D’Or. Benjamin wrote the stage musical Brass which won the UK Theatre Award for best musical production in 2014. The show is published by Rogers and Hammerstein theatricals.
Benjamin and his husband, Nathan are currently working on a major documentary series for Sky Arts.
Concert work includes Oranges and Lemons (which features the recordings of 200 bells found within the 17 churches mentioned in the longer version of the famous nursery rhyme), The Pepys Motet (a 40-part Motet inspired by Pepys’ diary) Songs About The Weather for The Fleet Singers (a setting of memories from the past 60 years), The Man in the Straw Hat for the Fleet Singers (a setting of Betjeman) and EBOR VOX (celebrating the 800th anniversary of the city of York’s charter, performed by 800 singers) and commissioned by York City Council.
CD releases include The London Requiem (featuring Matt Lucas, Barbara Windsor, Tanita Tikaram, Maddy Prior and the Balanescu String Quartet), Four Colours (featuring Jodie Prenger) the original cast recording of Brass and the forthcoming Pepys Motet/ Oranges and Lemons.
He worked in theatre for ten years, most notably with playwright Sir Arnold Wesker, with whom he has written a musical, Letter to a Daughter, a radio play The Rocking Horse and several arts songs. Sir Arnold even sings on the CD release of Benjamin’s The London Requiem.
Benjamin directed Someone Whistled (London Pleasance) Little By Little (Arts Theatre) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (Blewbury Open Air Theatre.). He worked as Resident Director for the best part of two years on Boy George’s Taboo in the West End, and was Associate Director on a string of Raymond Gubbay operas at the Albert Hall.
In 2005, after a year-long sojourn into casting feature films with Shaheen Baig (Brick Lane, Control, 28 Weeks Later - on which he was also the acting coach) he moved into TV films. He composed and directed: Hampstead Heath: The Musical (BBC, RTS Award nominated), Coventry Market: the Musical (BBC, SONY nominated, winner of 2 Gillard Awards) A1: The Road Musical (Channel 4, Grierson nominated, best newcomer 2008), Watford Gap! (BBC, Gillard nominated) The Busker Symphony (Channel 4 – winner, best composition, Music Aid Awards) Tyne and Wear Metro: The Musical (BBC, Gillard and RTS award winning, SONY nominated) Children In Need: the Musical (BBC) A Symphony for Yorkshire (BBC – winner Prix de Circom and three RTS Awards including best music) Songs From Hattersley (BBC), 100 Faces (BBC) Tales of the White City (BBC). He wrote incidental songs for the BBC’s Harry and Paul.
He is perhaps best known as the composer, conceiver and one of the grooms of the BAFTA-nominated, Our Gay Wedding: the Musical. The show won the Grierson award for Best Entertaining Documentary 2014, and the 2015 Prix Italia for best Performing Arts TV programme. It was nominated for TV moment of the year and most innovative programme in the Guardian TV Awards, as best music programme in the Broadcast Awards and best arts programme in the RTS Awards and the Rose D’Or. Benjamin wrote the stage musical Brass which won the UK Theatre Award for best musical production in 2014. The show is published by Rogers and Hammerstein theatricals.
Benjamin and his husband, Nathan are currently working on a major documentary series for Sky Arts.
Concert work includes Oranges and Lemons (which features the recordings of 200 bells found within the 17 churches mentioned in the longer version of the famous nursery rhyme), The Pepys Motet (a 40-part Motet inspired by Pepys’ diary) Songs About The Weather for The Fleet Singers (a setting of memories from the past 60 years), The Man in the Straw Hat for the Fleet Singers (a setting of Betjeman) and EBOR VOX (celebrating the 800th anniversary of the city of York’s charter, performed by 800 singers) and commissioned by York City Council.
CD releases include The London Requiem (featuring Matt Lucas, Barbara Windsor, Tanita Tikaram, Maddy Prior and the Balanescu String Quartet), Four Colours (featuring Jodie Prenger) the original cast recording of Brass and the forthcoming Pepys Motet/ Oranges and Lemons.