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Today's Featured Composer:

Ron Goodwin (1925-2003)

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Ron Goodwin was born in Plymouth on 17 February 1925. He studied piano from the age of five and took up the trumpet when he went to Willesden County Grammar School at the age of eleven, eventually joining the school orchestra there.Ron entered the music profession in 1943 when he became a trainee in the arranging department of music publishers Campbell Connelly whilst fulfilling freelance engagements as a trumpet player.Moving on from there, Ron joined an orchestration bureau run by Harry Gold and Norrie Paramour, during which time he also played trumpet with Harry Gold and his Pieces of Eight, a popular Dixieland jazz ensemble.

As Head of the arrangement department at Bron Associated Publishers from 1945 to 1950, Ron wrote arrangements for all the leading broadcasting bands and orchestras including Geraldo, Ted Heath and the BBC Dance Orchestra conducted by Stanley Black. He also started to conduct recording sessions for various artistes including Petula Clark and Jimmy Young, an up-and-coming singer at that time!George Martin placed Ron under contract to EMI�s Parlophone Record Company in 1950, where he accompanied many top artistes including Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Sophia Loren. Ron also began broadcasting and recording as Ron Goodwin and his Concert Orchestra and became one of Parlophone�s top-selling artistes.

In 1960 Ron began his association with MGM British Studios, composing and conducting the music for most of their British productions under Executive Producer, Laurence P Bachmann. Other film companies became interested in his work and he composed and conducted music for 61 feature films including 633 Squadron, Battle of Britain, Where Eagles Dare and Alfred Hitchcock�s Frenzy.Ron appeared as guest conductor with leading symphony orchestras around the world and also enjoyed working with young musicians from time to time. He was a Fellow of the City of Leeds College of Music, a Board member of the Young Persons� Concert Foundation and received three Ivor Novello Awards, the most recent of which was in 1994 for Lifetime Achievement.