Benedikt Schiefer
Biography Benedikt Schiefer
Benedikt Schiefer
is a highly versatile composer, as well as a very successful sound artist, performer and producer. Schiefer worked with directors like Volker Schlöndorff and Christoph Hochhäusler multiple times and was awarded with the German Film Critics Award 2012 for his film scores. In 2011 Schiefer was nominated for the French film music award SACEM and in the same year he was honored with the Giga-Hertz-Award for electronic music, a price that is given by the center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe. Schiefer is a virtuous and authentic cross-border commuter between classical and contemporary music, who also has a name in the clubmusic with his electro and funk projects.
One of the first film scores Benedikt Schiefer composed was for Benjamin Heisenberg's thriller "Am See" (2001). For director Volker Schlöndorff´s production of "Der neunte Tag" (2004) Schiefer is involved as a music consultant and for the film "Enigma, eine uneingestandene Liebe" (2005) he writes the score. For Christoph Hochhäuslers feature films “Milchwald” (2003), “I am Guilty” (2005) and “Unter dir die Stadt” (2010) Schiefer composes the scores, for the latter he gets honoured with the price of the German film critics in 2012. Furthermore Schiefer is also an active composer for documentaries including for “Nachtschicht” (2003) by Alexander Riedel as well as for image films.
The compositional works of Benedikt Schiefer are genre crossing and range from 8 Bit tracks to orchestral works for solo piano as well as for string ensembles. Thereby Schiefer lays a special focus on creating individual and characteristic sound which he varies in contrast to the dramatic composition of the respective artistic work. In his compositions Schiefer incorporates various elements from French Impressionalism, Minimal Music and Contemporary Art Music as well as influences from Electronica and Experimental Music. The musical language of this exceptional composer is characterized by a strong multifacetedness, expressed in diverse extremes and contrasts. He works both with filigree structures as well as with Walls of Sound, incisive melodies as well as menacing dissonances, with both acoustic and electronic sounds.
Besides his compositions for film Schiefer also creates musical works for concertante performances, theatre productions, musical theatre, choreographies and art installations. For the Swiss pavilion at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai Schiefer contributed the entire sound concept and was responsible for two sound installations, from design to production. For his sound performances Schiefer favours to work with spectral methods to create compositions as „Environments“and make them spacially experiencable.
In 2001 he developes a permantent sound-image installation inside the building of the Suisse Re/Bayerische Rückversicherung, in 2004 he creates a multi media sound installation and performance at the offspace marks blond in Bern, in 2009 he exposes his algorithmic composing media installation „Gesture“ at the New Jersey Gallery in Basel.
Under his alias Ben Hereth Schiefer releases productions in the field of electronic music, as well as being an active performer and laptop musicican. At his solo live programme „Joyful Acousmony“ Schiefer operates keyboards and mixes his samples and beats live. In 2004 Schiefer founds his Afrofunk group Castor Pollux & The Soul Department, in which he sings and plays the drums. Schiefer plays various instruments including guitar, bass and various percussive instruments.
Born in Rosenheim in 1978, Schiefer studies composition under Wilfried Hiller in Munich and under Georg Friedrich Haas and Erik Oña in Basel, having microtonal music as one of his main specialities. Already while his studies Schiefer receives various scholarships and awards including the Richard Strauss scholarship of the city of Munich (2000), the „Prix de la Création musicale“ at the Festival Premier Plans in Anger (2004) as well as an invitation to the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart.
His works have been performed by various ensembles including Ensemble Phönix Basel, Ensemble Ascolta, Ensemble Wiener Collage, Ensemble Gelberklang, Neue Vocalsolisten, Gavriel Lipkind, Alexander Gilman, Simon Breyer, Stefan Blum, Thomas Hitzlberger, at diverse festivals like ADevantgarde Festival, Wien Modern, Weltmusiktage, Akademie Musiktheater heute, Musik der Jahrhunderte, Ludwigsburger Festival für Neue Musik, Festival Europäische Wochen Passau, Italienische Nacht München and in various renowned locations like Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Gasteig Munich, Musikverein Vienna, Foyer (NDR), Mousonturm Frankfurt, Theater Basel, Kammerspiele Hamburg, Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Residenztheater Munich.
Benedikt Schiefer lives and works in Berlin and Basel.
