HUGO BELL is a composer, performer and artist based between The Hague and London. He has worked with groups including Hand Werk, Ensemble Proton Bern, Ensemble TaG, XTRO, Residentie Orkest, New European Ensemble, Britten Sinfonia, Ensemble Oerknal, Decibel, Royal Northern Sinfonia and The Tallis Scholars, and has collaborated with performers including Ere Lievonen and Jacob Lekkerkerker.
 
His music has been presented across Europe and North America including performances at festivals such as Impuls (2023), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (2020 & 2021), CODA (2018) and Cheltenham Music Festival (2015). Hugo’s awards include The Mendelssohn Scholarship (2022), The Conlon Foundation Prize (2021), Britten Sinfonia’s Opus 1 (2021), The Philip Bates Prize (2017) and NCEM & BBC Young Composer Award (2014).
 
Coming from a background in performance, his practice is heavily reliant on collaboration whether it be a traditional composer-performer relationship or a composer-composer/artist relationship. Hugo has collaborated with musicians and artists from a wide variety of creative backgrounds including choreographers, early music practitioners, visual artists, electronic musicians and instrument builders.
 
He began his musical career as an aspiring organist and conductor studying at Newcastle University and Gothenburg Academy of Music, during which period he was awarded the Lawrence Phelps Recital Award (2011). After completing his undergraduate studies, his enthusiasm for contemporary music led him to start composing. After two years of private lessons he was awarded a scholarship to study composition at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. In 2023, Hugo completed a Masters degree in composition at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague where his studies were generously supported by the Leverhulme Foundation.