Imogen Holst was the daughter of composer Gustav Holst and studied at the Royal College of Music in London. During the Second World War, she worked as an organiser for the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts from 1941 to 1944 and as musical director at the Arts Centre at Dartington Hall School from 1943 to 1951. In 1952, Imogen Holst moved to Aldeburgh to work with Benjamin Britten and became artistic director of the festival there in 1956. In 1953, she founded the Purcell Singers, which she conducted until 1967. As a composer, Imogen Holst left behind an extensive body of instrumental, vocal and orchestral compositions.