Celebrating his thirtieth birthday this year, Thomas Adés shot to prominence in his native England when as a pianist he won the 1989 BBC's “Young Musician of the Year” award. From 1989-1992 he pursued his musical studies at Cambridge University. As a composer, he has received commissions from such groups as the Hallé Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He is currently the musical director of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and teaches composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also conducts. He is a co-director of the Aldeburgh Festival. Adés' 1993 composition “… but all shall be well” for orchestra, won a number of distinguished awards (Ernst von Siemens, Grawenmeyer)