biography.
José Benjamín was born in 1993 in Valencia, Spain. He studied the bachelor degree in Valencia and later, he moved to The Hague, where he obtained his “Master of Music” degree in The Royal Conservatory of The Hague” being a student of the Dutch concertist Raaf Hekkema. During this period, he also took lessons with Arno Bornkampo and he received a scholarship from the Government of Valencia to take lessons with the saxophonist Lars Niederstrasser.
As a saxophonist, he won national prizes such as the Xàtiva National Young Performer Competition; Lliria Young Performer Competition; “Prize Vicent Galbis Prize” in Torrent; the “Special Prize of Professional Degree” and the “Final Degree Prize of Bachelor”, and international prizes such as the bronze medal in “Global Music Awards” (instrumentalist category) and the first prize in “International Online Competition” in Belgrade, Serbia. He has been a member of International Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, Youth Orchestra of The Valencia’s Government and Orsaxcova Saxophone Orchestra, with whom he made concerts with musicians like Ara Malikian, Pedro Iturralde, Gerardo Estrada, Alfredo Olvalles and Nicolas Hodges among others. Also, during his saxophone career he took lessons with important saxophonists such as Vincent David, Ensemble Squillante, Mariano Garcia, Berlage Saxophone Quartet, Massimo Mazzoni, Leo van Oostrom y Calefax Reed Quintet, Simon Diriq and others. Nowadays he is saxophone and chamber music teacher in Conservatory of Montroy in Valencia. As a jazz saxophonist, he has been a member of “Big Band Talleres Sedajazz” with whom he made several performances in jazz clubs and festivals, in addition to recording a Cd titled “Swing Up”. He also took lessons with jazz instrumentalists like Bob Mintzer, Mark Turner, Jerry Bergonzi and Perico Sambeat. Nowadays he is teaching “Introduction to Jazz Language” in Unió Musical Music School in Torrent, Valencia. As a composer, he has studied with teachers like Jesús Santandreu, Hugo Chinesta, Gregory Fritze, Kevin Houben, Francisco Andreu Comos, Matteo Nahum and Daniel Flors. His pieces have been premiered by several ensembles and festivals around the world, such as in Taiwan, Spain, Andorra, Netherlands, Thailand... He has obtained national prizes such as first prize “Luis San Jaime”, first prize in “Manuel Carrascosa Prize”, 2nd and 3rd prize “Agustín Ramos Chamber Music Composition Competition” in addition to international prizes like “Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy Composers Competition” and two bronze medals in the prestigious Global Music Awards of California. |