Francis Monkman

English composer (1949–2023) Francis MonkmanMonkman in 1970sBackground informationBornAnthony Francis Keigwin Monkman(1949-06-09)9 June 1949Hampstead, London, EnglandDied12 May 2023(2023-05-12) (aged 73)GenresProgressive rockclassical musicOccupationsSongwritermusicianfilm score composerInstrumentsKeyboardsguitarYears active1960s–2023Formerly ofCurved AirSky801Matching MoleMusical artist Anthony Francis Keigwin Monkman (9 June 1949 – 12 May 2023) was an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of both the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical/rock fusion band Sky. Life and career Early years Francis Monkman was the son of Kenneth Monkman, an authority on the writer Laurence Sterne, and his wife Vita (née Duncombe Mann). He was a pupil at Westminster School, where he studied organ and harpsichord, later studying at the Royal Academy of Music, winning the Raymond Russell prize for virtuosity on the harpsichord and becoming a member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Wanting to experiment with more spontaneous music forms, Monkman learned how to play guitar and began to associate himself with rock music. Curved Air In the late