Donald Fraser

British-born, now a permanent U.S. resident, British Academy Award-winning composer Donald Fraser lives and works from his home outside of Chicago.

Donald entered the Royal College of Music at age 17 to study composing and conducting. His principal tutors were Sir Adrian Boult, Humphrey Searle and Alexander Goehr. He also studied with Nadia Boulanger. In his second year, he was awarded all five composition prizes and a Cobbett Prize for conducting. At 19, he began writing for film and television and subsequently became resident composer at the Royal College of Art Film School and composer, conductor, and Artistic Associate for the Old Vic Theatre Company. Donald has also created and produced TV, film, and theater programs and many sound recordings for RCA, BMG, EMI, Philips, the BBC, Thames TV, PBS, Channel 4, and independent production companies. He has composed scores for over 30 documentaries, several feature films and TV series, as well as more than 120 commercials, many radio dramas, and music for the concert hall. Donald's music has been heard at many of the world's major festivals including Edinburgh, Istanbul, Perth (Australia), Hong Kong as well as on theatrical tours to the United States, China, Japan, and many European countries.