Oliver Knussen

Oliver Knussen CBE (born 12 June 1952 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British composer and conductor. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. He studied composition with John Lambert, between 1963 and 1969 and later received encouragement from Benjamin Britten. He spent several summers studying with Gunther Schuller at Tanglewood in Massachusetts and then in Boston. He later became the Head of Contempora... more

Oliver Knussen CBE (born 12 June 1952 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British composer and conductor. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. He studied composition with John Lambert, between 1963 and 1969 and later received encouragement from Benjamin Britten. He spent several summers studying with Gunther Schuller at Tanglewood in Massachusetts and then in Boston. He later became the Head of Contemporary Music Activities at Tanglewood between 1986 and 1998. 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 – for which she made Leaving Home a series of seven one-hour programmes, an introduction to 20th Century music, presented by Simon Rattle, winning the 1996 BAFTA award for Best Arts Series. She ran the Los Angeles Philharmonic's education department, in the late 1990s. Oliver and Sue Knussen had a daughter, Sonya, who is a soprano. Sue Knussen died of a blood... less