Born in Toulouse in 1989, Benjamin Attahir started by learning violin, and then became passionate about composing. Amongst his masters are Édith Canat de Chizy, Marc-André Dalbavie, Gérard Pesson, and Pierre Boulez.
He has won numerous competitions and distinctions as the USA Bloomington IHC, the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, SACEM prizes and Académie des Beaux-Arts prizes. He is nominated at Victoire de la musique classique in 2019 and 2021 in category "composer of the year".
His works are performed by various ensembles and orchestras (Staatskapelle Berlin, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique d'Helsinki, Netherlands Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Tokyo Sinfonietta , The Elements, Musicatreize, la Maîtrise de Radio France, Trio Zadig, the Arod and Van Kuijk Quartets ...) He was composer in residence at the National Orchestra of Lille, the Gulbenkian in Lisbon as well as numerous Festivals (Aix en Provence, Gstaad, Les Arcs, Messiaen, Lucerne Festival ...)
He was resident at the Villa Médicis (16/17), there he meets the work of the author and playwright Lancelot Hamelin with which he weaves an uninterrupted dialogue.
Author of two operas which he premiered in 2012 and 2015, the scenic area is the backbone of his musical writing, which, like his origins, draws its inspiration halfway between East and West. In 2019, he conducted the Orchestre de La Monnaie de Bruxelles in his third lyrical work, Le Silence des Ombres on a libretto by M. Maeterlinck.
He regularly collaborates with artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Renaud Capuçon, Bertrand Chamayou, Emmanuel Pahud, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Marc Coppey, Henri Demarquette, Gérard Caussé, Hae-Sun Kang, Geneviève Laurenceau, Raquel Camarinha, Claude Delangle, Olivier Stankiewiez, Tugan Sokhiev, Pascal Rophé, but also with several troops such as La Comédie Française, Quanzhou Liyuan Theater (China).
His music is published by Salabert / Universal Music Classical.
Photo : © Julian Hargreaves