A CLASSICAL singer from Cirencester has paid tribute to renowned composer and former head of music at Cirencester Grammar School, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who died last Monday (March 14).

Benedict Nelson, a baritone classical singer, said Sir Peter was “an inspiration to me growing up in Cirencester.

“He was a constant presence in my early life – there’s always been his plaque at Bingham Hall where I did some of my first performances.

“As a young kid into classical music, it can be very lonely.

“There’s not many other people your age who you can share your passion with.

“I’ve always had a great affection for the likes of Mozart and Beethoven but they’ve almost taken on a mythical existence.

“They don’t seem like they were real people, but Max was a real and tangible person who you could connect with.”

Benedict, 32, now lives in Buckinghamshire but regularly returns to Cirencester to visit family.

Some years ago he signed up to the same agency as Sir Peter and met him for the first time soon after.

“We met for the first time at the agency’s Christmas party and had a bit of a chit chat,” said Benedict.

“We talked about our influences and our love of the Cotswolds.”

Having once been a member of the Cirencester Parish Church Choir, Benedict has since gone on to win the Ferrier Award and the Wigmore Song Prize, and next week will appear as Algernon in a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest at Barbican Theatre for the Royal Opera House.

Sir Peter, described by the BBC as the ‘wild child of contemporary music’ and appointed as Master of the Queen’s Music from 2004-2014, died from leukaemia on March 14, at his home in Orkney.

He was knighted in 1987 and his compositions include eight works for the stage, ten symphonies and numerous film scores, while as a conductor he was associated with the Royal and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras.

Between 1959 and 1962 Sir Peter was head of music at Cirencester Grammar School; around this time he also began writing the first of many works for children.

Born on September 8, 1934, he was 12 when his first composition was broadcast by the BBC’s Children’s Hour, before going on to teach himself A-Level music.