Ben Pease Barton

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Ben Pease Barton (b. 2000) is a British composer based in London, writing primarily for live instrumental and vocal performance. His works have recently premiered at venues and institutions including the Barbican Hall, Carnegie Hall, The Place (London), Musikene (San Sebastián), Milton Court, The Courtauld Gallery and the King’s Lynn Festival. Fascinated by ecology and archaeology, he often draws on the complex human forces that shape, sustain and degrade ancient natural landscapes, influenced by his early upbringing in the ranger’s residence at Hatfield Forest, Essex.

Past projects include works for EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble, the Gildas and Ligeti Quartets, Texas-based line upon line percussion, the Guildhall Symphony and Session Orchestras, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and for soloists including clarinettist Heather Roche, pianist William Bracken, violinist Kryštof Kohout, percussionist Simon Limbrick, soprano Manon Ogwen Parry and mezzo-soprano Karima El Demerdasch. Conductors he’s worked with include Jonathan Stockhammer, Sir Antonio Pappano, Jack Sheen, Toby Thatcher and Alphonse Cemin. His recent collaborators from the other arts include writer David Bottomley (HOLME [2025]), choreographer Emma Poyer (Kala [2022]) and writer-soprano Olivia Bell (Fall and Mudlark [2023]).

Ben studied with Julian Anderson, Cassandra Miller and Malcolm Singer at Guildhall School of Music & Drama as an undergraduate (first-class honours). He then continued studies with Anderson at the School, completing his master’s with distinction in 2024 and receiving the Jane Manning – Anthony Payne Award (the School’s premier composition prize), Tracey Chadwell Memorial Prize for vocal composition, and Marjorie & Dorothy Whyte Memorial Award for a nominated graduate of the London conservatoires. He was also supported by the Guildhall Scholarship, Leverhulme Arts Scholarship, Henry Wood Trust Scholarship and a Vaughan Williams Bursary. He has participated in courses and masterclasses including in the UK and abroad with composers including Michael Jarrell, Tom Coult, Charlotte Bray, Helmut Lachenmann and Ramon Lazkano.

Alongside private teaching, Ben is the composition lead at Guildhall Young Artists Norwich. He is the initiator and co-director of the annual GYA RESOUNDING event, featuring workshops and performances in London for young composers and performers of the Norwich and London GYA centres.