Peerage for Michael Berkeley

Composer and broadcaster Michael Berkeley is receiving a life-peerage, the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission has announced. (The e-commerce pioneer Martha Lane Fox is also receiving a life-peerage). Berkeley, the son of composer Lennox Berkeley, studied with Richard Rodney Bennett and has composed three operas, including Jane Eyre (to a libretto by David Malouf). His new opera Atonement (based on the novel by Ian McEwen) has a libretto by Craig Raine. He was director of  the Cheltenham Festival of Music from 1995 to 2005. He has also presented the BBC Radio 3 programme Private Passions for the last 15 years.