Obituary: Benedict Cruft (1949–2022)

Benedict came from a long line of notable musicians, all of whom had LSO connections. His Great Grandfather, John, was a founding member of the Orchestra, playing Viola from 1904 to 1923. His Grandfather, Eugene Cruft, was Principal Double Bass from 1910 to 1912, and his father, John, was Principal Cor Anglais and also Secretary (Managing Director) from 1946 to 1959. Benedict played in the First Violin section in the mid 1970s.

Born in 1949, Benedict started learning violin at the age of six. Later, he attended the Royal College of Music winning the top violin prize there. After leaving the LSO he played with various orchestras and in 1980 went as Associate Concertmaster to the Hong Kong Philharmonic where he also formed the Tononi Quartet. He returned to London in 1984 and spent some years freelancing and occasionally composing music for television commercials and the theatre. He made a special study of the six unaccompanied works for violin by J S Bach and gave more than fifty performances of the complete cycle.

In 2003, he became Dean of Music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and spent ten happy years there, returning to London in 2013.

We send our condolences to Benedict’s family and friends at this sad time.