Karl Jenkins is arguably the most successful living composer working today. Born in the Gower Valley, Jenkins studied composition at Cardiff University and then at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Palladio was inspired by the sixteenth-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, whose work embodies the Renaissance celebration of harmony and order. Two of Palladio's hallmarks are mathematical harmony and architectural elements borrowed from classical antiquity; a philosophy which Karl feels reflects his own approach to composition.