Benjamin de la Fuente

COMPOSER AND IMPROVISER
Benjamin de la Fuente attended the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris where he studied composition under Gérard Grisey and improvisation under Alain Savouret. He went on to complete the Ircam Cursus program on composition, and in 2001-02, was an artist-in-residence at the Villa Medici / French Academy in Rome.

In 2000, he and Samuel Sighicelli founded the company Sphota, and went on to create seven multidisciplinary shows that were performed across Europe (Festival Musica, Tage fur neue musik, Traiettorie, Agora, Berliner Festspiel, San Sebastian, Roma Europa, etc.). In 2004, he co-founded the experimental rock band Caravaggio, which performs regularly in France and abroad (Pori Jazz Festival, Moers, Berlin, Jeunesse in Vienna, Graz, Rome, Jazz à la Villette, Centre Pompidou in Paris, etc.) and has recorded four albums.

De le Fuente’s work englobes composition, improvisation and performance design. He strives to create an original listening context for each project. His compositions offer a physical and theatrical sound experience, while opening up aesthetic possibilities essential to the development of new musical poetics. He draws on both live experimentation as well as meticulous composition, collaborating with other arts to create original listening experiences.

He composes instrumental works both with and without electronics for a range of ensembles and orchestras, writes musical shows, and occasionally composes film scores. He is often invited to give master classes involving improvisation and composition.

Collaborations
De la Fuente collaborates with many European ensembles, festivals and structures including the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Ictus, EIC, Ircam, Grame, INA-grm, Percussions de Strasbourg, the Orchestre National de Jazz Olivier Benoit, Théâtre du Châtelet, Festival d’Aix en Provence, Ars Musica, etc.
He was a composer-in-residence at the Maison de la Musique de Nanterre in 2017-2018, and held a residency at the CCAM in Vandœuvre-les-Nancy together with Sphota and Samuel Sighicelli.

Honors and awards
De la Fuente is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions including:
.Charles Cros Academy Grand Prix du Disque 2010

.The Grand Prix Lycéen des Compositeurs for the album La Longue Marche,
.The Prix André Caplet awarded by the Académie des Beaux-arts de l’Institut de France (2009),
.The SACEM Prix Hervé Dugardin (2002)
He holds a Masters in Musicology from the Université de Paris VIII and a Certificat d’Aptitude (CA) in electroacoustic composition