  oliver knussen cbe (born 12 june 1952) is a british composer and conductor. ==biography== oliver knussen was born in glasgow, scotland. his father, stuart knussen, was principal double bass of the london symphony orchestra, and also participated in a number of premieres of benjamin britten's music.reed, philip & mervyn cooke. letters from a life: the selected letters of benjamin britten, 1913-1976: vol. 5: 1958-1965. boydell press, 2010: p. xxxviii oliver knussen studied composition with john lambert between 1963 and 1969, and also received encouragement from britten. he spent several summers studying with gunther schuller at tanglewood in massachusetts and in boston. he later became the head of contemporary music activities at tanglewood, between 1986 and 1993. he was married to sue knussen, a us-born producer and director of music programmes for bbc television and for the uk's channel 4 &ndash; for which she made leaving home, an introduction to 20th-century music presented by simon rattle in a series of seven one-hour programmes, which won the 1996 bafta award for "best arts series".sue knussen &ndash; obituary, variety, 16 april 2003.accessed on 19 august 2007. she ran the los angeles philharmonic's education department in the late 1990s. oliver and sue knussen had a daughter, sonya, who is a mezzo-soprano. sue knussen died of a blood infection in london in 2003. the sue knussen composers fund (previously, the sue knussen commissioning fund) "honours her memory and professional legacy...and...commissions works from emerging composers to be performed by contemporary music ensembles worldwide."singsthings, sonya knussen's website.accessed on 19 august 2007. knussen lives in snape, suffolk, benjamin britten's base during one of his most creative periods.benjamin britten's long association... &ndash; john waddell, snapevillage.org.uk.accessed on 19 august 2007] snape maltings concert hall is the home of the aldeburgh festival. ==musical life== though oliver knussen began composing at about the age of six, it was an itv programme about his father's work with the london symphony orchestra that prompted the commissioning for his first symphony (1966â1967). aged 15, knussen stepped in to conduct his symphony's premiÃ¨re at the royal festival hall, london, on 7 april 1968, after istvÃ¡n kertÃ©sz fell ill. after his debut, [[daniel barenbo
1952_births 20th-century_classical_composers 21st-century_classical_composers British_classical_composers British_conductors_(music) Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire English_classical_composers English_conductors_(music) Honorary_Members_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Music Honorary_Members_of_the_Royal_Philharmonic_Society Living_people People_educated_at_Purcell_School People_from_Glasgow Pupils_of_Olivier_Messiaen Scottish_composers Scottish_conductors_(music)