Benedict Taylor (musician)

Violist & Composer

Benedict Taylor (born 1982) is a British avant-garde composer and violist, who works within contemporary music and improvisation. He studied viola at the Royal Northern College of Music (2000–2004) with Roger Bigley – Lindsay Quartet, Thomas Riebl, Steve Berry (improvisation), Chris Rowland (chamber music). From 2008–2010, he then read ethnomusicology at Goldsmiths, University of London. He was born in Kendal near the English Lake District and is the son of the Kendal based author Caroline Moir. He is married Indian actress Radhika Apte in 2012.^[1]

Career

Taylor is a leading figure within contemporary composition, modern string performance & improvised music in the British & European new music world. The central focus of his work is in new composition for live performance, film, theatre, contemporary dance, art installation & electro-acoustic composition. In performance, he predominantly works within improvisation, new composition & 20th/21st century music.

Through performance/recording he has worked with artists including: Lawrence Upton,^[2] Stephen Crowe, Alex Ward, Daniel Thompson, Terry Day, Tom Jackson,^[3] Anton Mobin, Keith Tippett, Eugenio Colombo, Steve Beresford, Evan Parker,^[4] Tony Conrad, Jonathan Cole, Francesco Hoch, John Corigliano, Oliver Knussen, Krzysztof Penderecki.

Within his performance work there is a focus on solo performance as a creative and investigative process. In 2013 he initiated an ongoing commission series & solo label Subverten (For Viola Solo), aimed at investigating conventional & unconventional elements in solo viola perfoemance. The first works premiered in autumn 2013 and continue several times each year.^[5]

He works with a number of music organisations and ensembles including; clapTON Ensemble, re:sound, London Improvisers Orchestra,^[6] Berlin Improvisers Orchestra, Project Instrumental, Tokyo Improvisers Orchestra, Kammer Klang Players, Squib-Box,^[7] ARCO,^[8] London Sinfonietta Collective, Regular Music II.^[9]

Notable festival, venue and radio appearances include; Tete a Tete Opera Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte – Montepulciano, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Fete de la Musique Berlin, Manchester International Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, Cheltenham Festival, BBC Radio 3, Resonance FM, Radio Libertaire/Epsilonia (Paris).^[10]

Through his work he is also involved with several higher education institutions, giving lectures and seminars at the Royal College of Music, City University London and Goldsmiths, University of London amongst others.

A large part of his composition is in film and theatre scoring, writing soundtracks for many works including; Fireworks & Djinns of Eidgah (Dir. Richard Twyman) – Royal Court Theatre,^[11] The Bright Day (Mohit Takalkar), Maunraag (Vaibhav Abnave), Waves of Power (Rajesh Thind & National Maritime Museum 2011),^[12] Citizen Soldiers (Rajesh Thind), Presage (Maria Guerberof 2010), That Girl in Yellow Boots,^[13] (director Anurag Kashyap),^[14] Harud (Aamir Bashir),^[15] Ship of Theseus (dir. Anand Gandhi 2012), with ongoing screenings, garnering awards and critical acclaim at film festivals including Berlinale, Venice, London, Toronto, Shanghai, Mumbai & Rotterdam, London Film Critics Circle.^[16][17][18]

He is the founder & artistic director of CRAM, a music collective & independent record label (CRAM Records), which produces and promotes improvisation and new composition through both recorded and live mediums. The group is notable for working across geographical, cultural, media & artistic boundaries.

He is active within the London session music community having worked in performance & recording settings with artists including; Jimmy Page, Basement Jaxx, Madness, Aphex Twin, Belle and Sebastian, Serafina Steer, Jarvis Cocker, You Me At Six, Donovan, Micah P. Hinson, Foals, Cherry Ghost.

Discography

• Four Quartets (Confront Recordings) Benedict Taylor, Tom Jackson, Keith Tippett, Ashley John Long^[19]
• A Purposeless Play (Subverten) Benedict Taylor solo viola
• Pugilism (Subverten) Benedict Taylor solo viola
• Alexandertwatz in Berlin (Sardine Butty) Benedict Taylor & Stephen Crowe
• Hunt at the Brook (FMR) Benedict Taylor, Daniel Thompson & Tom Jackson
• Stow | Phasing (Raw Tonk) Benedict Taylor & Anton Mobin^[20]
• Burn Before Listening - The Rejected Recordings of Benny Court & Benny Taylor (Squib Box)
• Transit Check (CRAM) – Benedict Taylor, Solo Viola^[21]
• Alluere (Subverten) Benedict Taylor, Solo Viola^[22]
• Striations (Subverten) – Benedict Taylor, Solo Viola^[23]
• Songs from Badly-Lit Rooms (Squib Box) – Tom Jackson & Benedict Taylor^[24]
• Dark Voices (CRAM) – Lawrence Upton & Benedict Taylor^[25]
• Guests on Tape – Anton Mobin & Benedict Taylor^[26]
• Une Nuit De Bruit (Sombre Soniks) – Benedict Taylor, Anton Mobin, Adio Lawal-West, Andrew Page, P23,Tim Drage^[27]
• Compost (CRAM) – Daniel Thompson, Alex Ward, Benedict Taylor^[28]
• The Long Half Day (Slightly Off Kilter) – Carousel Collective & Thomas Mindhouse^[29]
• Last Wayne Days (Squib Box) – Neil Luck, Fiona Bevan & Arco^[30]
• Lio, Leo, Leon (Emanem) – London Improvisers Orchestra^[31]
• Live at No Black Tie (Rooh Music) – Kendraka feat. Benedict Taylor, Miya, Chris Stalk
• Singing Marram III & IV (Subverten) – Benedict Taylor Solo Viola. Graphic scores Lawrence Upton^[32]

Composition

• Oysters (Pratyusha Gupta 2016). Music - Benedict Taylor
• Mr Incredible (Camilla Whitehall. Dir - Sarah Meadows). Music - Benedict Taylor
• Where Do Little Birds Go (Camilla Whitehall. Dir - Sarah Meadows). Music - Benedict Taylor
• YOU (Mark Wilson. Dir - Sarah Meadows) Duck Down Theatre Company. Music Benedict Taylor
• Fireworks (Dalia Taha. Dir - Richard Twyman) Royal Court Theatre. Music - Benedict Taylor
• The Djinns of Eidgah (Abishek Majumdar. Dir - Richard Twyman) Royal Court Theatre. Music – Benedict Taylor^[33][34]
• The Bright Day (Mohit Takalkar). Music – Benedict Taylor^[35]
• Maunraag (Vaibhav Abnave). Music – Benedict Taylor^[36]
• Waves of Power (Rajesh Thind). Music – Benedict Taylor
• Citizen Soldiers (Rajesh Thind). Music – Benedict Taylor
• Our Stories: Living and Coping with Schizophrenia in India. Music – Benedict Taylor
• Killa (Avinash Arun). Music – Benedict Taylor & Naren Chandavarkar
• The Ship of Theseus (Anand Gandhi). Music – Benedict Taylor & Naren Chandavarkar
• Harud (Aamir Bashir). Music – Benedict Taylor, Naren Chandavarkar, Suhaas Abuja
• That Girl in Yellow Boots (Anurag Kashyap). Music – Benedict Taylor, Naren Chandavarkar & Suhaas Ahuja
• Butoh (Maria Guerberof). Music – Benedict Taylor & Alison Blunt
• The Dead Can Dance (Typewriters Collective). Music – Benedict Taylor & Alison Blunt

Awards

• Royal Philharmonic Society – Sir John Barbirolli Award (solo viola)
• Lynn Foundation Scholarship (solo viola)
• Westmorland Music Society Grant (solo viola)
• Crystal Bear, Berlinale 2014 (Killa)
• International Jury Special Mention, Berlinale 2014 (Killa)
• Transylvania Trophy (Best Film) TIFF (Ship of Theseus)
• Jury Special Mention BFI London Film Festival (Ship of Theseus)
• London Film Critics Circle selection: Centenary Celebration – 15 life changing films (Ship of Theseus)
• Grand Jury Award – New York SAIFF (The Bright Day)

References