Photo credit: Futian Yao
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.
Photo credit: Futian Yao
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 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.
News & Events
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
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.
March 14, 2023: Premiere of “Nigun of Four Gates”
On Tuesday, March 14, at 7:30 pm, in Walter Hall at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music (80 Queens Park Crescent), I premiered my Nigun of Four Gates for seven cellos as part of the Faculty’s final Student Composers’ Concert of the academic year. Click here to read the full program notes and click here to view the recording of the performance.
February 5, 2023: Performance of “Toward Eternity”
On Sunday, February 5, at 7:30 pm, in Walter Hall at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music (80 Queens Park Crescent), I will be presenting my art song “Toward Eternity” for soprano and piano as part of the U of T New Music Festival’s Canadian Art Song Showcase You can read the full text and my program notes here. Concert admission is free.
November 26, 2022: Premiere of “Conditor alme siderum”
On Saturday, November 26 in St. Andrew’s United Church in Brantford, Ontario, I premiered my “Conditor alme sidreum” for soprano and string orchestra as part of Arcady’s “Christmas with Arcady” concert. Click here for the the full text and program notes and click here to view the recording of the performance.
November 22, 2022: Premiere of “Crepuscule”
On Tuesday, November 22 in Walter Hall at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, I premiered my “Crepuscule” for mezzo-soprano and piano. Click here for the full text and program notes and click here to view the recording of the performance.