B I O
Ben Gaunt is a Yorkshire-based sonic artist, composer, performer, and improvisor.
As a composer, Ben has worked with many of the UK's most well-known musicians (including Ensemble 10/10, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Ligeti Quartet, London Sinfonietta, London Symphony Orchestra, Psappha, and many others). He has also collaborated with a wonderful array of soloists (including Carla Rees, Rolf Hind, Fenella Humphreys, Benjamin Powell, Héloïse Werner, Mandhira de Saram, Matthew Schellhorn, Karin de Fleyt, Alfia Nakipbekova, Christopher Redgate, Oren Marshall, and Sarah Nicolls).
Ben's music has been heard at multiple events, festivals, and venues across the UK (including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival on multiple occasions). His music is also regularly performed internationally.
Ben was nominated for a British Composer Award in 2017, an Ivor Novello in 2021. In 2024, he was appointed Professor in Composition at Leeds Conservatoire (having begun lecturing there in 2015).
In 2023, Ben begun experimenting with electroacoustic composition, field recording, and sonic art practices. Most of the music he now composes uses fixed electronics in some way. He performed
Local Mosaics and Graffiti
for improviser(s) and fixed electronics at SOUND/IMAGE Festival 2023 at the University of Greenwich. He performed
Frankenstein 1910
for improviser(s), film, and fixed electronics at Northern Silents Film Festival 2023.
Grave Pastures
for solo instrument and fixed electronics was performed by four-time Grammy winning cellist, Nick Photinos at jemFEST 2023 at the University of North Florida. Ben performed Originally From Another Cross
(for fixed electronics) at Echochroma XXII in 2024, at Leeds School of the Arts (diffused, live, through their cutting-edge 3D ambisonic sound system). He performed his piece
Frog Buffoons
for improvising melodica player and fixed electronics at the Manchester Jazz Festival hothouse showcase in 2024. He performed his piece
German Canine Waltz Time
for fixed electronics at Groucho Club, Soho, as part of the Music Patron Launch Event in 2024.
Ben's pieces
Clad in Fire-Resistant Armour
(for fixed electronics) and
Local Mosaics and Graffiti
will be featured at the RMA Music and/as Process 2024 conference at the University of Glasgow.
I love meeting new people, collaborating, making sounds, experimenting, and having fun. I am very friendly and easy to work with, and am always happy to discuss commissions and other performance opportunities.
If you are interested in chatting with me, please email me at ben@bengaunt.com or gauntcomposer@gmail.com and I'll reply as soon as possible!
R E V I E W S
"heartfelt" "lively" "finely etched"
(Musical Opinion)
"almost cartoonish" "bold, clear-headed and original"
(BBC Music Magazine)
"It is Ben Gaunt’s ‘More Like What It Is’ that reveals a kindred Birtwistle spirit though – elegantly sly and darkly questioning. His is an original voice that needs to be heard again."
(4 Bars Rest)
"highlight" "a decreasingly civilised smack-down"
(5:4)
"I liked the other person's piece better..."
(Ben's wife)