• Most Respected Classical Music Platform
  • #classicalForever
TOP
Oliver Knussen

VERY SAD NEWS | Scottish Composer & Conductor Oliver Knussen Has Died – Aged Just 66 [RIP]

Acclaimed Scottish composer & conductor Oliver Knussen has passed away – aged just 66

Acclaimed Scottish composer & conductor Oliver Knussen has passed away, following a short illness – aged just 66.

A student of John Lambert and Gunther Schuller, he will be remembered as one of the most influential and performed composers of his generation.

Maestro Kussen's signature works include his Third Symphony, premiered in 1979 by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, his Flourish with Fireworks, his operas Where the Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop! - and his Violin Concerto, premiered in 2002 by Pinchas Zukerman.

Throughout his four decade career, Maestro Knussen served as Music Director of the London Sinfonietta, Head of Contemporary Music at the Tanglewood Music Center, Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival - and as Artist in Association with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

 

 

"Olly was the greatest musician I’ve ever known ... he was a major British composer and conductor – by far the best of his generation ... with ears even better than Boulez’s ..." composer Mark Anthony Turnage has told The British Guardian.

"He was also my closest friend ... with such a kind heart, and was like my Dad ... the loss to me but also to us all is incalculable,” he has said.

"There is no composer more refined in technique and imagination, no conductor more precise and fastidious, no mentor more generous, and no-one who understands the repertoires of new music better," Royal Academy of Music Professor Richard Rodney Bennett has told local press.

Our condolences are with his family, friends and colleagues.

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: MARK ALLAN

upcoming events

july 2025

11julAll Day25Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition(All Day) Harbin Grand Theatre, China, Heilongjiang, Harbin, Songbei District, 滨水大道 邮政编码: 150010Event Type :competitions Event TagsAlice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition,competition

august 2025

22augAll Day30Tibor Varga International Junior Violin Competition(All Day) Ferme-Asile, Promenade des Pêcheurs 10 1950 Sion SuisseEvent Type :competitions Event Tagscompetition,Tibor Varga

25augAll Day31Banff International String Quartet Competition(All Day) The Banff Centre, 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive Box 1020 Banff T1L 1H5 Canada Event Type :competitions Event TagsBanff International String Quartet Competition,string quartet

27augAll Day07sepFerruccio Busoni International Piano Competition(All Day) Il Teatro Comunale di Bolzano | Das Stadttheater von Bozen, Piazza Giuseppe Verdi, Platz 40, 39100 Event Type :competitions Event TagsFerruccio Busoni International Piano Competition,Piano Competition

31augAll Day07sepArturo Toscanini International Conducting Competition(All Day) Teatro Regio, Str. Giuseppe Garibaldi, 16/a, 43121 Parma PR, ItalyEvent Type :competitions Event TagsArturo Toscanini International Conducting Competition,conducting competition

31augAll Day07sepBartok World Competition - Piano(All Day) Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest Liszt Ferenc tér 8, 1061 HungaryEvent Type :competitions Event TagsBartok World Competition

CONTACT US
x

Get ALL your latest classical music news conveniently by EMAIL

Free – and trusted by 2 million+ readers monthly