Benjamin Staern (1978-)
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Benjamin Staern, born in Gothenburg in 1978, is a Swedish composer based in Malmö. He studied musicology at Lund University and composition at the Malmö Academy of Music, 1998–2005. His output includes orchestral, chamber, solo and vocal music, opera and multimedia. Awards include the Large Christ Johnson Prize (2012) and Swedish Music Publishers Awards (2011, 2017).
Benjamin Staern was born in Gothenburg in 1978 and is based in Malmö. With a background in cello, piano and percussion, he studied musicology at Lund University and composition at the Malmö Academy of Music, 1998–2005. His teachers included Rolf Martinsson, Hans Gefors, Per Mårtensson, Kent Olofsson and Luca Francesconi. The Threat of War, written during his studies, marked an early breakthrough.
His music combines rhythmic energy and imaginative timbre with synaesthesia, the perception of tones as colours. His output spans orchestral, chamber, solo and vocal music, opera and multimedia. Orchestral works include Jubilate, Godai, Polar Vortex and Symphony No. 2 – Through Purgatory to Paradise.
He was composer-in-residence with the New European Ensemble in 2010–14, creating Tranströmersånger and Bells and Waves. The latter received the Swedish Music Publishers Award in 2011. His clarinet concerto Worried Souls received the Large Christ Johnson Prize in 2012; Air–Spiral–Light received the Swedish Music Publishers Award in 2017.
The Snow Queen, with a libretto by Anelia Kadieva Jonsson, premiered at Malmö Opera in 2016. HILMA: An Opera About Hidden Art, with a libretto by Mira Bartov, has been performed at Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. SAIYAH was created with artist Yoko Seyama and premiered at Norrlandsoperan in 2014.
Konserthuset Stockholm devoted a Composer Weekend to his music in 2022. He was artistic partner with Västerås Sinfonietta in 2023–26 and composer-in-residence at Nordic Song Festival in 2025. Recent works include Älvalek, Det Eviga, Brev till mitt barn and Fight–Union–Clinch.
He also works as a teacher and arranger. His website provides the current catalogue, scores, recordings and performance information.
Links
Website, catalogue, scores and recordings: https://www.benjaminstaern.se/
Publisher: Gehrmans Musikförlag – https://www.gehrmans.se/upphovspersoner/benjamin_staern
Summary list of works
Orchestral music (Jubilate, Godai, Polar Vortex, Symphony No. 2 – Through Purgatory to Paradise, Det Eviga), concertos (Worried Souls, Air–Spiral–Light, Älvalek, Fairy–Angel), chamber music (Bells and Waves, Day and Night, Fight–Union–Clinch, Hilma Interludes and Epilogue), vocal music (Tranströmersånger, Sånger om bländvit kärlek, Brev till mitt barn, Banī Ādam), choral music (In Paradisum), opera and music theatre (Snödrottningen, HILMA, Det svältande hjärtat), multimedia (SAIYAH).
