Coming from a musical family it probably wasn’t a surprise when Daniel Hewson (1&4 South, 1986-1991) won a top music scholarship to Cranleigh School. The son of composer Richard Anthony Hewson (the RAH Band), who arranged for The Beatles and Diana Ross there was great excitement amongst his Fourth Form friends when ‘mum and dad’ appeared on Top of the Pops with their top ten hit Clouds Across The Moon.
At Cranleigh Dan studied under the wing of Keith Abrams, Director of Music. He took lessons in piano, trombone and composition, and played an active part in the musical life of the school, playing in orchestras and ensembles, arranging for the 1&4 South House Choir, composing pieces for the Chapel Choir, as well as for friends to perform in the regular Lunchtime Concert series. A particular highlight for him was the performance of his Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, composed when he was 15 and premiered in the Speech Hall.
After Cranleigh Daniel played in the National Youth Orchestra and studied music at Oxford, where he won the Osgood Composition Prize for his String Quartet.
On leaving Oxford Daniel began his successful career as a freelance musician. As well as playing his own music, he has arranged strings for Madonna, Groove Armada and Stacey Solomon. His music has been recorded by The Reunion Big Band (Portugal) and appears on the EMI Production Music and Audio Network record labels. He has performed with artists such as Nigel Kennedy, the Oxford Chamber Orchestra, Stomp’s Lost and Found Orchestra, Incognito and Omar at the BBC Proms, the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall, Rock in Rio Festival, Abbey Road Studios, on Radio 3 and Classic FM. He spent seven years living and working as a freelance musician in Lisbon and now lives in London.