Benjamin Gabbay

Composer | Writer | Digital Designer

Benjamin is a composer, writer, and digital designer in Toronto, Canada.

Although my activities span a wide range of disciplines, they can all be traced back to the same creative impulse. For as long as I can remember, my interest in a particular science or art form has drawn me to want to learn its language and explore it through the lens of a creator. As a result, I’m fortunate to be able to work in the three fields where I share both my expertise and my passion: writing and editing, after having published my first novel in 2012; graphic and web design, born out of a fascination with visual art, code, and digital mediums; and piano performance and composition, following 15 years of study with the instrument and a lifelong love of classical music. I’ve also come to discover many unexpected intersections between those fields, and ways in which they inform and complement each other—like the sense of balance and symmetry that underlies everything from a great melody to a stunning website to a well-crafted sentence.

Thank you for your interest in my work.

Benjamin Gabbay (signature)

Benjamin is a writer, digital designer, and composer in Toronto, Canada.

Although my activities span a wide range of disciplines, they can all be traced back to the same creative impulse. For as long as I can remember, my interest in a particular science or art form has drawn me to want to learn its language and explore it through the lens of a creator. As a result, I’m fortunate to be able to work in the three fields where I share both my expertise and my passion: writing and editing, after having published my first novel in 2012; graphic and web design, born out of a fascination with visual art, code, and digital mediums; and piano performance and composition, following 15 years of study with the instrument and a lifelong love of classical music. I’ve also come to discover many unexpected intersections between those fields, and ways in which they inform and complement each other—like the sense of balance and symmetry that underlies everything from a great melody to a stunning website to a well-crafted sentence.

Thank you for your interest in my work.

Benjamin Gabbay (signature)

Benjamin is a writer, digital designer, and composer in Toronto, Canada.

Although my activities span a wide range of disciplines, they can all be traced back to the same creative impulse. For as long as I can remember, my interest in a particular science or art form has drawn me to want to learn its language and explore it through the lens of a creator. As a result, I’m fortunate to be able to work in the three fields where I share both my expertise and my passion: writing and editing, after having published my first novel in 2012; graphic and web design, born out of a fascination with visual art, code, and digital mediums; and piano performance and composition, following 15 years of study with the instrument and a lifelong love of classical music. I’ve also come to discover many unexpected intersections between those fields, and ways in which they inform and complement each other—like the sense of balance and symmetry that underlies everything from a great melody to a stunning website to a well-crafted sentence.

Thank you for your interest in my work.

Benjamin Gabbay (signature)

News & Events

November 30, 2024: Premiere of “Bergandacht”

On Saturday, November 30, in Brantford, Ontario, Arcady Ensemble will be premiering my piece “Bergandacht” (Mountain Prayer) as part of the ensemble’s annual “Christmas with Arcady” concert. Click here for the full text and program notes and click here for more information about the concert.

September 14, 2024: “Bridging the Eras” Toronto concert

On Saturday, September 14, in Toronto, Arcady Ensemble presented its “Bridging the Eras” concert featuring music by three generations of Canadian composers, including my “Twilight Serenade” for choir and string quintet.

August 10, 2024: Premiere of “Meditation”

On Saturday, August 10, at 4 p.m., as part of its Emerging Artist Showcase in the Whistling Gardens near Brantford, Ontario, the Arcady Ensemble premiered my “Meditation” for tenor, cello, and piano. Click here to watch the recording.

June 1, 2024: Premiere of “Twilight Serenade”

On Saturday, June 1, in Brantford, ON, Arcady Ensemble premiered my “Twilight Serenade” for choir and string quintet as part of their “Bridging the Eras” concert. Click here to watch the recording.

January 2024: Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre

I’m honoured to now be counted among the Canadian Music Centre‘s Associate Composers, joining a community that has been fostered by some of Canada’s most eminent musicians for over half a century. The Ontario division of CMC recently published a brief introductory interview with me, which can be read here.

December 2, 2023: Premiere of “The Rose That Bare Jesu”

On Saturday, December 2, Arcady Ensemble premiered my newest work, “The Rose That Bare Jesu,” for soprano solo, SSA choir, and string orchestra, as part of the ensemble’s Christmas with Arcady concert. Click here to watch the recording.

August 20, 2023: Recording of “O rammenta”

On August 20, alongside my colleagues Arieh Max Sacke and Evan Tanovich, I recorded a never-before-heard reconstruction of a vocal sketch by Beethoven, “O rammenta,” at the invitation of the L.v. Beethoven Centro Ricerche Musicali in Italy. Click here to watch the recording.

June 10, 2023: Premiere of Chanson Courante with the Arcady Ensemble
On Saturday, June 10, as part of Arcady’s 25th Anniversary Celebration Concert, the Arcady Ensemble premiered my Chanson Courante for choir and string orchestra. Click here to view the recording; full text and program notes are in the video description.
 
June 3, 2023: Arcady Emerging Artist Recital

On Saturday, June 3, at 4 pm, I accompanied (on piano) Arcady’s Emerging Artist Recital in the Gardens in the Whistling Gardens near Brantford, Ontario. The program included my art-song setting of E.E. Cummings’ poem i carry your heart with me, performed by mezzo-soprano Maria Milenic.