[disponible en anglais seulement]
Mira Benjamin was born in Vancouver, British Columbia,
into a family of music theorists, and began studying the violin at the age of three.
Now based in Montréal, her musical energy and versatility have made her an active
contributor to Canada’s artistic community.
A devoted performer of new music, Mira works regularly with composers and has
performed numerous world premiers. She is frequently invited to present new works at
international music festivals, and 2011 she co-founded the Norwegian-Canadian New
Music Conference — an annual composition forum for which she also serves as Artist in
Residence. Mira can be seen performing regularly with Montréal’s leading contemporary
music ensembles including la Société de musique contemporaine du
Québec (SMCQ), l’Ensemble contemporain de Montréal
(ECM+), and le Nouvel ensemble moderne (NEM). She
joined Quatuor Bozzini in May 2011.
Laureate of the 2009 Rencontres de musique nouvelle du Domaine Forget, Mira was
invited to perform Philippe Leroux’s violin concerto,
(d’) Aller, as soloist with the Nouvel
ensemble moderne (NEM) in August 2010. She was the recipient of the 2009
Leon and Thea Koerner Award in the
Fine and Performing Arts from the Koerner Foundation of British Columbia, and in 2011
was awarded a bursary from the Canadian Aldeburgh Foundation.
Mira is co-artistic director of Portmantô, a chamber
music collective and composers’ residency that curates both new and traditional
repertoire. She is also a founding director of Chamber Music Without Borders, a
McGill-based outreach program benefiting the Montréal community. Mira holds an Artist
Diploma and Bachelor of Music degree from McGill University’s Schulich School of
Music, where she was supported by a Lloyd Carr-Harris
Scholarship. Her primary teachers have been Denise Lupien,
Mauricio Fuks, Denys Bouliane, and
Taras Gabora.