Biography
Job Title: Principal Lecturer: MA Music & Interim Curriculum Manager: Business
Courses Taught: MA Music & Music Business
Specialisms: Orchestral arrangement, Composition
Ben Cottrell is a composer, bandleader and saxophonist currently based in Manchester.
He is best known as the director of Beats & Pieces Big Band, and also co-founded and manages rising independent label Efpi Records.
In 2016 he was commissioned by Manchester Jazz Festival under their Irwin Mitchell mjf originals scheme, for which he devised a brand new project entitled New Seeing pairing a 12-piece string ensemble with trumpet, electronics and double rhythm section which premiered to great success in July 2016.
As an orchestral arranger, Ben has worked with and for a diverse range of artists including Laura Mvula, Esperanza Spalding, Goldie and Everything Everything, and his arrangements have been performed and recorded by world renowned orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Metropole Orkest (Netherlands) and The Heritage Orchestra.
He is a lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music and Leeds Conservatoire.
