Editing Michael Berkeley

{{Short description|British composer and broadcaster on music}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name         = The Lord Berkeley of Knighton
|image        = Michael Berkeley informal.jpg
|caption      = Michael Berkeley
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBEh}}
|office   = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br/>[[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]] 
|term_start   = 26 March 2013<br/>[[Life Peerage]] 
|birth_place  = 
|death_date   = 
|death_place  = 
|restingplace = 
|birth_name   = Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley
|birth_date   = {{birth date and age|1948|05|29|df=yes}}
|nationality  = [[United Kingdom|British]]
|party        = None ([[crossbencher]])
|spouse       = 
|relations    = 
|children     = 
|residence    = [[London]], England<br/>[[Wales]]
|alma_mater   =
|occupation   = Composer and broadcaster
|profession   = 
|cabinet      = 
|committees   = 
|portfolio    = 
|religion     = 
|signature    = 
|website      = https://www.michaelberkeley.co.uk
}}
'''Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%CBE}} (born 29 May 1948) is an English composer, broadcaster on music and non-party political member of the [[House of Lords]], speaking as an advocate for the arts, contemporary music and music education.

==Early life==
Berkeley is the eldest of the three sons of Elizabeth Freda (née Bernstein) (1923–2016) and the composer Sir [[Lennox Berkeley]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-39902|title=Berkeley, Sir Lennox Randal Francis (1903–1989), composer|date=2004-09-23|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/39902}}</ref> He was educated at [[The Oratory School]], in [[Woodcote]], and [[Westminster Cathedral Choir School]].<ref name="Moss">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2000/jun/24/classicalmusicandopera | title=Public man, private passions | work=The Guardian | author=Stephen Moss | date=23 June 2000 | access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> He was a chorister at [[Westminster Cathedral]], and he frequently sang in works composed or conducted by his [[Godparent|godfather]], [[Benjamin Britten]]. He studied composition, singing and piano at the [[Royal Academy of Music]]. He also played in a rock band, Seeds of Discord.<ref name="Moss"/> In his twenties, when he went to study with [[Richard Rodney Bennett]], he concentrated on composition.

==Works==
Berkeley's compositions include ''Meditations for Strings'' (1975), String Trio (1976) and an [[oratorio]] ''Or Shall We Die?'' (libretto by [[Ian McEwan]], 1982).<ref name="Ian McEwan music">{{cite web |title=Ian McEwan Website: Text for Music ~ Or Shall We Die? and For You: A Libretto |url=http://www.ianmcewan.com/books/music.html |website=www.ianmcewan.com |publisher=Ian McEwan |access-date=5 September 2024 |ref=ian_mcewan_music}}</ref> His orchestral works include ''Flames'' (RLPO/Atherton 1981), ''Gregorian Variations'' (Philharmonia/Pittsburgh/Previn 1984), ''Secret Garden'' (LSO/Davis, Barbican 1997) and ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' (NYO/Rostropovich, Proms 1998) plus concerti for clarinet, violin, oboe, 'cello and organ.<ref name="OUP orchestral and ensemble">{{cite web |title=Orchestral & Ensemble works by Michael Bekeley |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/category/arts-and-humanities/sheet-music/composers/berkeleym/orchestral-and-ensemble/?lang=en&cc=us |website=global.oup.com |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=5 September 2024 |ref=oup_orchestral_ensemble}}</ref>

He has written three operas. ''Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (libretto by [[David Malouf]]) is based on the childhood of [[Rudyard Kipling]] and was recorded by the Opera North Chorus and English Northern Philharmonia in 1993.<ref name="Baa Baa Black Sheep Chandos">{{cite web |title=Berkeley: Baa Baa Black Sheep |url=https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010186 |website=Chandos Records |publisher=Chandos Records |access-date=4 September 2024 |ref=baa_baa_black_sheep}}</ref> [[Jane Eyre (21st century opera)|''Jane Eyre'']] (2000, libretto also by David Malouf), premiered at the [[Cheltenham Music Festival]] by [[Music Theatre Wales]]<ref name="Jane Eyre Opera premiere">{{cite web |last1=Maddocks |first1=Fiona |title=Eyre we go, Eyre we go... |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/jul/09/featuresreview.review4 |website=The Guardian |publisher=The Observer |access-date=4 September 2024 |ref=jane_eyre_opera |date=8 July 2000}}</ref> and subsequently toured around the UK. The Australian premiere took place in Canberra and the American in St. Louis where it was directed by [[Colin Graham]]. The original drafts for ''Jane Eyre'', representing one year's worth of work and the only copy of them, were stolen from outside his London home in May 1999.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/may/13/libbybrooks | title=Lost opera tragedy for composer | work=The Guardian | author=Libby Brooks | date=12 May 1999 | access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> The [[chamber opera]] ''For You'', with Ian McEwan the librettist,<ref name="Ian McEwan music"/> was premiered by Music Theatre Wales in the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.<ref name="For You opera">{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=Neil |title=For You at Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/for-you-at-linbury-studio-royal-opera-house-zsmtvl0jkmv |website=www.thetimes.com |publisher=The Times |access-date=4 September 2024 |ref=for_you_the_times |language=en |date=30 October 2008}}</ref> A proposed opera of McEwan's novel ''Atonement'' with libretto by [[Craig Raine]] for [[Opernhaus Dortmund|Dortmund Opera]] was set for premiere in 2013, but was shelved.<ref>{{cite news |title=Atonement opera in the pipeline |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8576243.stm |date=19 March 2010 |access-date=28 June 2015}}</ref><ref>[https://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article7067778.ece "We’ve had the book and film, now it’s ''Atonement'' the opera"] by Ben Hoyle, ''[[The Times]]'' (London), 19 March 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010. Subscription required.</ref>

Berkeley has written scores for films including [[Captive (1986 film)|''Captive'']] (with the Edge of U2, 1986), [[Goldeneye (1989 film)|''Goldeneye'']] (1989) and ''[[Twenty-One (1991 film)|Twenty-One]]'' (1991). He arranged the choral sequences for Hello Earth, a song written by [[Kate Bush]] which appeared on her studio album ''Hounds of Love'' in 1985.<ref name="Hello Earth">{{cite web |title=Hello Earth |url=https://www.katebushencyclopedia.com/hello-earth/ |website=Kate Bush Encyclopedia |access-date=6 September 2024 |ref=hello_earth |date=16 August 2017}}</ref>

Berkeley has written a considerable amount of chamber music for artists including [[Julian Bream]] (''Guitar Sonata'', Edinburgh Festival, 1980), the Takas Quartet (''Torque and Velocity'', 1997)<ref name="Torque and Velocity">{{cite web |title=Torque and Velocity |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/torque-and-velocity-9780193556546?cc=us&lang=en& |website=global.oup.com |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=6 September 2024 |ref=torque_and_velocity}}</ref> and Nicholas Daniel with the Carducci Quartet (''Into the Ravine''). The harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani premiered Berkeley's ''Haiku 2: Insects'', composed for Esfahani, at the [[Snape Maltings Concert Hall]] in April 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clements |first=Andrew |date=2023-04-09 |title=Anna Dennis / Nicholas Daniel / Mahan Esfahani review – poetry and animal magic |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/anna-dennis-nicholas-daniel-mahan-esfahani-review-snape-maltings |access-date=2024-06-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Berkeley has written much choral music, including the specially commissioned ''Listen, listen O my child'' for the enthronement of [[Justin Welby]] as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013<ref>{{cite book |title=Listen, listen, O my child |year=2013 |url=http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780193397675.do |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-339767-5 |access-date=28 June 2015}}</ref> and the ''Magna Carta Te Deum'', for the 800th anniversary of [[Magna Carta]] in 2015 in Lincoln Cathedral. He wrote ''This Endernight'' for the 2016 King’s College Festival of nine Lessons and Carols and ''Super Flumina Babylonis'' for the St. Cecilia Day Service in Westminster Cathedral in 2017.

In June 2024 Orchid Classics released ''Collaborations'', a CD of Berkeley's music featuring artists he had worked closely with and written for.<ref name="Michael Berkeley Collaborations">{{cite web |last1=Achenbach |first1=Andrew |title=Michael Berkeley Collaborations |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/m-berkeley-collaborations |website=Gramophone |publisher=Mark Allen Group |access-date=6 September 2024 |ref=michael_berkeley_collaborations |language=en}}</ref> These included Mahan Esfahani, Clare Hammond, Madeleine Mitchell, Alice Coote, Julius Drake and the BBC Singers. The album includes a song for Ukraine, Zero Hour, with lyrics and vocals from [[Neil Tennant]] and guitar solos from [[David Gilmour]].

==Broadcasting==
Berkeley is also known as a television and radio broadcaster on music. Between 1974 and 1979 he worked for [[BBC Radio 3]] as a staff [[Continuity (broadcasting)|continuity announcer]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Who's Who on Radio |last= Tracy |first=Sheila |publisher=World's Work Ltd |year=1983 |page=11|isbn=0-437-17600-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= The Envy of the World|last = Carpenter |first = Humphrey|publisher=Phoenix |year=1997 |page=276|isbn=0-75380-250-3}}</ref> Also on Radio   he contributed to ''Record Review'' (1972–77) and was a regular presenter of ''Mainly for Pleasure'' (1980–92) <ref>{{cite book |title= The Envy of the World|last = Carpenter |first = Humphrey|publisher=Phoenix |year=1997 |page=305|isbn=0-75380-250-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=%22michael+berkeley%22+%2B%22mainly+for+pleasure%22#search|title = BBC Genome Project|access-date = 1 December 2019|work = Mainly for Pleasure}}</ref> and ''In Tune'' (1992–93).

Since 1995 Berkeley has presented BBC Radio 3's ''[[Private Passions]]'',<ref name="Moss"/> in which celebrities are invited to choose and discuss several pieces of music. In December 1997, one of his guests was a 112-year-old Viennese percussionist called Manfred Sturmer, who told anecdotes about [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], [[Clara Schumann]], [[Richard Strauss]], [[Arnold Schoenberg]] and others so realistically that some listeners did not realise that the whole thing was a [[hoax]] perpetrated by Berkeley and [[John Sessions]]. On 30 December 2018, [[Charles III|King Charles]], when [[Prince of Wales]], was the guest on ''Private Passions'', in order to mark the passing of over one thousand editions of the programme, and to celebrate the prince's 70th birthday.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001ss2 | title = Private Passions: HRH The Prince of Wales | access-date = 3 April 2019}}</ref>

==Prizes and posts==
In 1977 he was awarded the Guinness Prize for Composition. In 1979, the [[Scottish Chamber Orchestra]] appointed Berkeley its associate composer. Berkeley was composer-in-association with the [[BBC National Orchestra of Wales]] from 2000 until 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/pdf/bio_now.pdf |title=BBC National Orchestra of Wales : Biography |publisher=BBC |access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref> He also acted as visiting professor in Composition at the [[Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama]] and was artistic director of the [[Cheltenham Music Festival]] from 1995 to 2004. In 2002 and 2003 he was international guest curator of chamber music programs at the [[Sydney Festival]], Australia's largest arts festival. He has served as a trustee of the Koestler Trust which puts music and the arts into prisons.<ref name="House of Lords Appoinments Commission Annual Report">{{cite journal |last1=Jay |title=House of Lords Appoinments Commission Annual Report |journal=House of Lords Appoinments Commission Annual Report |date=September 2013 |issue=October 2011 to September 2013 |page=9 |url=https://lordsappointments.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/annual-report-oct-11-sept-13-pdf.pdf |access-date=6 September 2024 |ref=hol_appointments_2013}}</ref>

Berkeley was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[2012 Birthday Honours]] for services to music.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=60173 |supp=y|page=6|date=16 June 2012}}</ref> He was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree by Aberdeen University in 2022.<ref name="Aberdeen University Honorary Degree">{{cite web |last1=Milne |first1=Ellie |title='It's the crowning glory': Distinguished composer given honour for commitment to music from Aberdeen University |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/4510333/its-the-crowning-glory-distinguished-composer-given-honour-for-commitment-to-music-from-aberdeen-university/ |website=Press and Journal |publisher=D C Thompson |access-date=6 September 2024 |ref=aberdeen_university_degree |date=7 July 2022}}</ref>

Berkeley is a Fellow of the [[Royal Northern College of Music]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Fellows and Honorary Members|url=http://www.rncm.ac.uk/about/college-information/fellows-honorary-members/|publisher=Royal Northern College of Music}}</ref> and an honorary Doctor of Music from the [[University of East Anglia]] and a Fellow of the [[Royal Academy of Music]]. He is President of the Presteigne Festival of Music and is also a Vice-President of the Joyful Company of Singers.

==Membership of the House of Lords==
[[File:Official portrait of Lord Berkeley of Knighton crop 2, 2019.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Official parliamentary portrait, 2019]]

In February 2013, it was announced that he would be made a [[life peer]] and enter the [[House of Lords]] as a [[crossbencher]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2013/february/lords-new-peers/| title = House of Lords, official website – New peers announced|publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom| access-date = 27 February 2013}}</ref> and on 26 March 2013 he was created Baron Berkeley of Knighton, of [[Knighton, Powys|Knighton]] in the County of [[Powys]].<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=60462 |date=28 March 2013 |page=6195}}</ref>

In 2018 Michael Berkeley successfully instigated and steered through the House of Lords an Amendment to the [[Children Act 1989]]. This corrected an oversight in the law that meant that, while the Family Court could issue a Care Order for a child at risk of forced marriage or from a habitually drunk and violent father, it could not issue an Order for a child at risk of [[Female Genital Mutilation]]. The bill received unanimous backing in the House of Lords but, on reaching the House of Commons, where it was sponsored by [[Zac Goldsmith]], it was twice objected to by [[Christopher Chope]]. This led to national outrage, and several cabinet ministers condemned Chope's actions. Subsequently, first the Home Secretary and then the Prime Minister told parliament that they would find Government time for the Bill, which finally received Royal Assent on 15 March 2019.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/08/tory-mp-who-blocked-upskirting-bill-halts-fgm-protection-law-christopher-chope | title = Tory MP who blocked upskirting bill halts FGM protection law | newspaper = The Guardian | date = 8 February 2019 | access-date = 3 April 2019 | last1 = Walker | first1 = Peter }}</ref> Berkeley has consistently spoken in support of music and music education.

==Personal life==
Berkeley has been married twice. His first marriage was to the literary agent [[Deborah Rogers]]. The marriage lasted from 1979 until her death in April 2014.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/04/deborah-rogers | title=Deborah Rogers obituary | work=The Guardian | author=Ion Trewin | author-link = Ion Trewin | date=4 May 2014 | access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> The couple adopted a daughter, Jessica.<ref name="Moss"/> Berkeley composed his Violin Concerto (in memoriam D.R.), premiered in July 2016 at [[The Proms]], in tribute to Rogers.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/28/bbc-now-van-steen-proms-review-michael-berkeley | title=BBCNOW/Van Steen at the Proms review – outpouring of grief and nostalgia | work=The Guardian | author=Tim Ashley | date=28 July 2016 | access-date=28 July 2016}}</ref> In June 2016, Berkeley married Elizabeth West.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lebrecht |first1=Norman |author-link = Norman Lebrecht|title=Happy news: Composer remarries |url=https://slippedisc.com/2016/06/happy-news-composer-remarries/ |access-date=20 June 2021 |work=[[Norman_Lebrecht#Slipped_Disc|Slipped Disc]] |date=16 June 2016}}</ref> Berkeley has a residence in London and a farm in Wales.<ref name="Moss"/>

==See also==
*[[Berkeley Ensemble]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.michaelberkeley.co.uk/|Michael Berkeley's official website}}
* [http://www.oup.co.uk/music/repprom/berkeley/ Michael Berkeley's webpage on his publisher's website], [[Oxford University Press]]
* [http://www.theatre-wales.co.uk/plays/review_archive.asp?playname=Jane%20Eyre&company=Music%20Theatre%20Wales Reviews of Music Theatre Wales's production of ''Jane Eyre'']
* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/sunmorn/stories/s466739.htm Transcript of interview on Australian Broadcasting Company's ''Sunday Morning'', January 2002]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/musicshow/stories/2005/1413080.htm# Transcript of interview on Australian Broadcasting Company's ''The Music Show'' regarding ''Jane Eyre'', May 2005]
* [http://www.rcwlitagency.com/authors/berkeley-michael/ Rogers, Coleridge & White literary agency biography on Michael Berkeley]
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{{s-bef|before=[[Baron Nash|The Lord Nash]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley, Michael}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:20th-century British classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century English composers]]
[[Category:20th-century British male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century British musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century British male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century British classical composers]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music]]
[[Category:BBC Radio 3 presenters]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:English classical composers]]
[[Category:English opera composers]]
[[Category:British male opera composers]]
[[Category:Crossbench life peers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians who were peers]]
[[Category:People educated at The Oratory School]]
[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:Peers recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]