Born in Kansas City, Kansas. Composer, arranger, musician, conductor, he studied piano with his mother and other instruments with his bandmaster father, and also with Carl Busch and Nadia Boulanger (honorary DHL, Franklin & Marshall College and Guggenheim fellowships). He began conducting at 11, was organist at a Kansas City theatre and a violinist and violist with string ensembles. He came to New York in 1916 and joined G. Schirmer. In World War I he conducted Army bands, and in 1922 he became an arranger for Broadway musicals; his productions included Rose-Marie, Sunny, The Band Wagon, Of Thee I Sing, The Cat and the Fiddle, Face the Music, Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, Kiss Me, Kate, South Pacific, The King and I, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Camelot. His orchestration of "The March of the Siamese Children" for the stage version of The King and I was considered so excellent that it was the only one of his orchestrations for the stage production which was exactly duplicated for the 1956 film (although augmented for full orchestra). He was affiliated with NBC's "Project 20" since 1954. He joined ASCAP in 1935 and was the former president of the NAACC. His compositions include "Abraham Lincoln, Sights and Sounds (RCA Victor awards)", the opera "Maria Malibran", "Hollywood (on a League of Composers commission)", "8 Etudes for Symphony Orchestra (on a CBS commission)", "Charleston Rhapsody", "Concerto Grosso", "Stephen Foster", "Armed Forces Salute", "Symphonic Songs for Band", "Suite of Old American Dances", "Song Sonata for Violin, Piano", "Organ Sonata", "Hexapoda", "4 Freedoms Symphony", "Celebration", "Symphonic Story of Jerome Kern", "He is Risen (Emmy award)", "The Enchanted Kiss" and "An Hour of Delusion (1-act operas)", "Suite for Band Track Meet", and "Commemmoration Symphony". Bennett's film orchestrations include SHOW BOAT (1929), SHOW BOAT (1936), A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS (1937), JOY OF LIVING, VIVACIOUS LADY, CAREFREE and PACIFIC LINER (1938, largely uncredited), GUNGA DIN, THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE and INTERMEZZO (all 1939, all uncredited), REBECCA (1940, uncredited), LADY IN THE DARK (1944), MY SON JOHN (1952), OKLAHOMA! (1955), THE KING AND I (1956) and SOUTH PACIFIC (1958). He orchestrated Richard Rodgers' "Victory at Sea" for the TV series (1952) and "Cinderella" for TV (1957 & 1965).  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Original Score) 1938: PACIFIC LINER  Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Musical Picture) 1955: OKLAHOMA! (w. Jay Blackton & Adolph Deutsch) 2 nominations, 1 Award