Argentinean composer born in 1970. Esteban Benzecry is one of South America’s most renowned young composers.
He studied musical composition with Sergio Hualpa and Haydee Gerardi in Argentina.
He moved to Paris in 1997, where he studied composition with Jacques Charpentier’s, Professor of the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris (CNR).
He obtained the “Premier Prix a l’unanimitè” in composition in 1999. He also studied composition with Paul Méfano, and Electro acoustic music with Luis Naon and Laurent Cuniot.
He is the author of three symphonies (his first symphony, “El compendio de la vida” from 1993 is inspired on four of his own canvases) as well as symphonic and chamber works.
“El compendio de la vida” art by Esteban Benzecry
His most recent works attempt a fusion between rhythms with Latin American roots and the diverse aesthetic currents of European contemporary music creating, a personal language, an imaginary folklore.
“Le Monde de la Musique” has called him a distant heir to Villa Lobos and Ginastera because of his imaginative use of the Latin American musical patrimony.
His works have been played around the world. Among the interpreters that have performed his works are: The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Tampere Philharmonic, Stavanger Symfoniorkester, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Hamburg Philharmoniker Orchester, Orquesta Gulbenkian of Lisbon, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfonica de RTVE (Radio Televisión Española), Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Orchestre Colonne de Paris, Orchestre de Concerts Pasdeloup, Orchestre Lamoureux, Orchestre de Cannes-Côte d’Azur, Orchestre Régional Avignon Provence, Orchestre Victor Hugo Franche-Comté, Sinfonietta de Paris, Orchestre de la Basse Normandie, Orchestre Universitaire de Strasbourg, l’ensemble l’Itineraire, Grup Instrumental de Valencia, Ensamble LIM, Orquesta Sinfonica National de Argentine, Orquesta Filarmonica del Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar de Venezuela, Orquesta Filarmonica Nacional de Venezuela, Orquesta Nacional de Colombia, Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogota (Colombia), Orquesta Sinfonica de Chile, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (Peru), l’Ensemble de l’Université Carnegie-Mellon de Pittsburgh (USA), Orchestre Symphonique de Klaipėda (Lituanie), Orquesta Sinfonica Carlos Chavez (Mexique) la Camerata Lysy – Gstaad (Suisse), la Camerata Basel (Suisse), la Camerata Bariloche (Argentine), “London’s Schubert Chamber Orchestra” (UK), Unitas Ensemble – Boston – USA, Contemporaneous ensemble – USA, Filarmónica de Stat Targu Mures (Rumania), Kiev Chamber Orchestra, Zaporozhye Symphony Orchestra – Ukraine, Kharkov Philharmonic Orchestra (Ucrania) Solaris String Quartet of London.
Gustavo Dudamel and composer Esteban Benzecry after a performance of his work “Colores de la Cruz del Sur” at Salle Pleyel of Paris with The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.
His works have also been performed by renowned conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Diego Matheuz, Giancarlo Guerrero, Manuel Lopez Gomez, Simone Young, Clemens Schuldt, Enrique Arturo Diemecke, Pablo Boggiano, David Alan Miller, Laurent Petitgirard, Alain Altinoglu, Daniel Kawka, Wolfgang Doerner, Mykola Diadiura, Jean-François Verdier, Christoph Altstaedt, Mark Foster, Alain Pâris, Samuel Jean.
And the interpreters Nemanja Radulovic, Rolf Schulte, Alberto Lysy, Gautier Capuçon, Sol Gabetta, Jesus Castro Balbi, Marielle Nordmann, Anaïs Gaudemard, Sergio Tiempo, Horacio Lavandera and Ayako Tanako among others.
His works have been performed at the Carnegie Hall de New York, Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall de Los Angeles, Davies Symphony Hall de San Francisco, Sydney Opera House, Concertgebouw de Ámsterdam, Royal Festival Hall de Londres, Philharmonie de Paris, Salle Pleyel, Salle GAVEAU, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Théâtre Mogador, Maison de RADIO FRANCE, Palais de l’Unesco de París, Palais des Festivals a Cannes, Opéra de Montpellier, Sydney Opera House, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Festival Rencontres d’ensembles de violoncelles de Beauvais, Concours International d’harpe Lily Laskine, Juilliard School de Nueva York, (Lincoln Center), Bard Music Festival – NY – USA, Boston Conservatory, Festival Présences de Radio France, Festival Pontino d’Italie, Festivals de Brighton et Dartington (Inglaterra), Festival de Música de Islas Canarias, Festival Estoril de Portugal, Miso Music Portugal, Festival Musica Viva de Lisboa, Festival Ensems de Valencia, Festival de Morelia (México), Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition – Morelia, México, Festival Latinoamericano de Música de Caracas, Festival Iberoamericano de Puerto Rico, Museo Guggenheim de Bilbao- Festival BBK, Van Cliburn Foundation of Fort Worth, Concours international de piano d’Orléans, Busoni International Piano Competition.
In 1992 he was named “The young revelation of the Season” by the Musical Critics Association of Argentina. The same association awarded him with the prize “The best Argentine work premiered in the Season 1994, 2006, 2009 and 2017”
Carnegie Hall, December 2012
The Academie des Beaux-Arts de l’Institut de France awarded him the prize from the Foundation Delmas in 1999, the prize Tronchet in 2002, and the prize Georges Wildenstein in 2006. In 2004, he received the Fondation groupe d’entreprise Banque Populaire-Natexis Award for music. He is Resident Composer at the Casa de Velazquez of Madrid for 2004-2006 (Academie de France a Madrid). In 2008 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition. In 2019 he receives the Konex Platinum award as the best composer of the decade in Argentina.
He has been a fellow of the “Interamerican Music Friends of Washington” (USA) , Mozarteum Argentino and Academie des Beaux-Arts de l’Institut de France. In 1995 he was invited as Resident Composer at the Yehudi Menuhin Academy (Switzerland).
Benzecry lives in Paris since 1997.
Esteban Benzecry in his early years in Paris.