Ben Cruft

British violinist. Born in 1949. He studied at the Royal College of Music, London (1966-1970). During the 1970s he played in the Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the London Symphony Orchestra (1973-1975) and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and joined the London String Quartet when it was re-formed by Carl Pini. In 1980, as the Associate Concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra he went for the first time to live in Hong Kong, and while there he also taught at the Hong Kong Conservatory and formed and led the Tononi String Quartet. He returned in 1984 to London, where he free-lanced, giving solo and chamber music recitals, playing with many different groups in England and abroad, recording music for films, records and television in the London studio world and occasionally composing music for television commercials, Library Music and the theatre. In 2003, he became Dean of music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) (2003-2013). Son of Adrian Cruft and grandson of Eugene Cruft.