Jonathan Goldstein and family die in Swiss Alps

Award-winning British composer Jonathan Goldstein, his musician wife Hannah and their baby daughter have been killed in a plane crash in the Swiss Alps.

The couple were on their way to Italy with their seven-month-old daughter Saskia when the aircraft they were travelling in came down in the Simplon Pass area on Sunday.

According to The Times, Jonathan, an experienced amateur pilot, was flying the five-seater Piper PA-28 plane involved in the incident, which crashed just over an hour into the flight.

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The couple took off on Saturday morning from London and landed in Troyes, France, before making another stop in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they had stayed overnight, reports the New York Post.

“We are all devastated by the news of Jonathan, Hannah and Saskia’s deaths,” a family spokesperson said. “We loved them all so very much. They were so happy together and we will miss them terribly.

“We would ask the media to respect the family’s privacy at this extremely difficult time,” the spokesperson added.

Jonathan founded the Goldstein Music Group following stints as a music director and composer for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal National Theatre. He later worked on director Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear and in 2007 he was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for his score to TV series Primo.

Hannah was a professional saxophonist who performed under the name Hannah Marcinowicz and worked with the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

She also performed with BBC Proms, classical music concerts and other events held during summers at such venues as the Royal Albert Hall and Cadogan Hall.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Our staff are assisting the relatives of a British family who died in a plane accident in western Switzerland and are also in contact with the local authorities.”