Keith Bennett was born in London. He read music at Oxford, where he was organ scholar at Brasenose College, after which he studied conducting at Trinity College of Music. He was awarded a doctorate from Oxford in 1978 for his study of the late Italian madrigalist, Luca Marenzio, which included an edition of all his six-voiced works. He is currently a principal lecturer and Course Director of the BA (Hons) Music degree at Bath Spa University College. He has been for thirteen years director of the Paragon Singers, a chamber choir of some twenty singers which is considered to be the leading early music choir in the Bath region, but which also has a keen commitment to and specialisation in contemporary music. Keith also directs the Marenzio Consort, a group of 4-6 single voices specialising in music of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He regularly directs Early Music Singing courses, often in conjunction with Michael Procter, with whom he has worked closely since 1981. He has prepared many editions for performance, largely of sixteenth century music, but including Juan Cererols Messa di Battalia, which the Paragon Singers performed (with an ensemble historical instruments) as part of the Bath Festival in 1997. Keith conducted Bath Opera for two years in 1988-90, and has also performed widely as an accompanist, singer and continuo player, including performances in the Bath Festival with London Sinfonietta Voices and the Polish Chamber Orchestra. Projects for the current season include four concerts with the Paragon Singers, two with the Marenzio Consort and three Early Music Singing weekends with Michael Procter in Boulogne and Knuston.