Donemus Webwinkel — Murashkin, Benjamin de

Benjamin de Murashkin was born in Denmark in 1981, but already at the age of one moved to Australia with his family, where he lived for 21 years before returning to his country of birth. In Australia, Benjamin took his Bachelor with honours, majoring in composition, at The University of Melbourne. Benjamin graduated with a Master of Music, majoring in composition, from The Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2011. In 2014 he completed the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma (Solistklassen) in composition at The Royal Danish Academy of Music.
Benjamin's works include pieces for solo instruments, small ensembles, choir and the song cycle, Musik Der Wogen, written for the soprano Frederikke kampmaan, who gave its premiere at the Wiener Kameropera in 2017. Benjamin has composed a series of short concertos with string orchestra for alto flute, accordion and violin respectively, the violin of which was premiered by Vera Panitch at Benjamin’s debut concert from the conservatory in 2014.
Benjamin’s orchestral output includes the works LOGOS, first performed by the Copenhagen Philharmonic in 2010 and Distant Murmuring, premiered in 2011 by the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra. In 2012, Benjamin was commissioned by The Copenhagen Philharmonic to compose a trombone concerto, which was premiered in March, 2013 with Christian Schmiedescamp as soloist. In 2014 Benjamin was appointed as the Copenhagen Phil's composer-in-residence for the 2014-18 seasons with commissions including a piano concerto and a symphony.
Composing for film and radio has also featured in Benjamin's output, resulting in scoring Frelle Pedersen's full-length feature Hundeliv, as well as continuing his collaboration with Norwegian director Eirik Sæter Stordahl, scoring his radio dramas, Love Me Tinder, Brandø and Vildmarken, all for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.
Benjamin has studied composition with Brenton Broadstock, Simon Bainbridge, Detlev Glanert, Bent Sørensen, Hans Abrahamsen and Niels Rosing-Schow amongst others, and worked with musicians such as The Copenhagen Phil, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Danish Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Recherche, Kronos Quartet, Arditti Quartet, Michala Petri, Hymnia, Mythos and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation's Big Band.
As an arranger, Benjamin has worked with such diverse popular artists as Tina Dico, Kim Larsen, Outlandish, Cody, Nabiha, Lucy Love, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Body Rhythm Factory and Dressed To Thrill, in collaboration with orchestras in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. As an orchestrator Benjamin has worked on orchestrating operas for the Malmö Opera and the Danish Opera Academy, as well as creating an orchestral suite of music from the musical The Devil's Apprentice by Madeline Myers for the Lyngby-Taarbek Symphony Orchestra.
Benjamin regularly improvises at recitals, and aims at creating a fusion between the intuitive and the systematically approached methods of composition in a language that bears influence not only of the full span of the classical tradition but also of contemporary popular styles.