Carl Davis, composer of Aladdin, was born in New York in 1936, grew up immersed in the dance scene of the 1940s and 1950s. He is known internationally for his scores for film, TV, radio, theatre, concert and dance. In addition to Cyrano and Aladdin for Birmingham Royal Ballet, he has composed A Simple Man and A Christmas Carol for Northern Ballet Theatre and scores for Scottish Ballet, English National Ballet, National Ballet of Croatia and, more recently, Nijinsky for the Slovak National Ballet. His work for theatre includes the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. He won a BAFTA for The French Lieutenant’s Woman and his television credits include Pride and Prejudice and Cranford for the BBC and The World At War for Thames TV. He has written or reconstructed scores for over 50 silent films ranging from Chaplin to Napoleon. In 1991 his collaboration with Paul McCartney produced the

Liverpool Oratorio. Recent commissions include the animated feature film EthelandErnest, based on the book by Raymond Briggs, and a large-scale choral work for the Hallé Orchestra entitled Last Train to Tomorrow. In 2005 he was awarded CBE (Honorary) for his services to music

September 2017