Best known for his work in film and television, George Fenton is one of the UK’s most successful composers, writing scores for over 100 films and dozens of plays and TV programmes. He has been recognised with numerous awards: 5 Oscar nominations, multiple Ivor Novello, BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy and BMI awards, a Classical Brit, The Nina Rota Award at Venice and a World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award from Film Fest Gent.  In the 2023 New Years Honours he received a CBE for Services to Music.

He was first nominated for an Academy Award in 1982 with Ravi Shankar for the score to Richard Attenborough’s biopic 'Gandhi'. He then went on to score another 4 films for Attenborough including ‘Cry Freedom’ and ‘Shadowlands’. He has also enjoyed long collaborations with Stephen Frears, Andy Tennant and notably Ken Loach for whom he has scored his last seventeen films.

In 1990 George composed the score for the BBC Natural History series, ‘Trials of Life’ which was the start of a relationship with the BBC that has spanned over 20 years culminating in the original BBC Earth Trilogy: ‘The Blue Planet’, ‘Planet Earth’ and ‘Frozen Planet’.

Fenton won an Ivor Novello, BAFTA and Emmy Award for Best Television Score for ‘The Blue Planet’ and in October 2001 he created ‘The Blue Planet in Concert’, which premiered at the Royal Festival Hall, London.  Fenton was then asked to create ‘Planet Earth in Concert’ and then ‘Frozen Planet in Concert’ completed the trilogy.

These shows have played all over the world in The Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House and Wembley.  ‘The Blue Planet’ and ‘Planet Earth’ became feature films.

Other films scored by George include  ‘Dangerous Liaisons’, ‘The Fisher King’, ‘Groundhog Day’, ‘You’ve Got Mail’, ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, ‘The Lady In the Van’, ‘Cold Pursuit’, Ken Loach’s ‘The Wind That Shakes The Barley’, ‘I Daniel Blake’ and ‘Sorry We Missed You’ and ‘Elizabeth, A Portrait In Parts’, amongst others.   2023 will see the release of the film, ‘Allelujah’ based on Alan Bennett’s play (for which. George also did the music), Andy Tennant’s new film’ Unit 234’ and also the new David Attenborough Wildlife series on BBC1, ‘Wild Isles’. And another Ken Loach film is on the way, release date tbc.

Recent work in the theatre includes Alan Bennett’s above mentioned play, ‘Allelujah!’ and ‘Untold Stories’,  written with Bennett, which includes the string quartet, ‘Hymn’. Also, the musical ‘Mrs Henderson Presents’,  Talking Heads,  Straight Line Crazy, Bach & Sons.

In 2020, George released an album, 'The Piano Framed' - a selection of new arrangements on piano, including 'Shadowlands', 'The Blue Planet', 'Dangerous Liaisons', 'You’ve Got Mail', 'Groundhog Day' and 'The Lady in The Van', arranged and performed by Simon Chamberlain. Also available on CD And Vinyl via his website.

George is one of 18 songwriters and composers to have been made a Fellow of the Ivors Academy (formally BASCA).  He lives in London.