German film composer Hans Zimmer has been announced as the winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at this years Classic Brits.
Zimmer’s scores for The Lion King (1995), Gladiator (2000) and Pirates Of The Caribbean (2003), as well as his work on Christopher Nolan's Batman films, are among the most well-known works in the film music repertoire.
Dick Stainer and Barry McCann, co-chairmen of the Classic Brit Awards committee said: ‘Hans Zimmer's recent work, including Inception, has been a dominant force for classical music specifically in the digital-download era. It is only appropriate that four years on from his 2009 win for soundtrack of the year for The Dark Knight he should receive the outstanding contribution to music at this year's ceremony.’
Having scored the music for over 100 films the composer already has an Oscar, two Golden Globes and three Grammy awards to his name.
Previous winners in the Classic Brits include film composer John Williams, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, violinist Nicola Benedetti and conductor Vasily Petrenko.
The ceremony, which is to be hosted by Myleene Klass, will be held on 2 October at the Royal Albert Hall and will feature live performances from world-renowned artists with accompaniment from the London Chamber Orchestra under conductor Christopher Warren Green.