Darren J. Benjamin
- Composer
- Music Department
Living and working in London, Darren began playing the piano in his fathers church at the age of seven. This exposed Darren to a wide range of western harmony, hymns and a platform to express himself musically through improvisation in what were weekly spontaneous church services. His talent as a church pianist open the door to accompany some of the finest Gospel singers in the UK where he would on one occasion go on to perform before for Her Majesty The Queen.
Whilst given the freedom and environment to develop musical experiences and ideas, Darren trained classically and went on to study at Trinity College of Music now known as Trinity Laban. He then became a professional pianist and keyboard player touring with artists such as Soul II Soul, Boney M and Jocelyn Brown. Darren went on to play piano, write and arrange music for West End musicals The Harder They Come and Clark Peters' Five Guys Named Moe.
Having these experiences led Darren into composition where he has developed his passion for story telling. He now scores for all different types of projects including moving picture for drama to documentary - big and small. Darren loves to draw on his broad understanding of musical styles to create everything from epic to contemporary and intimate scores.
Selected for BFI NETWORK x BAFTA Crew, he has most recently delivered the music for Amazon Prime film What Would You Do? As well as BBC Films and BFI backed The Ancestors (Dir. Zadwa Nyoni. Prod. Barrington Paul Robinson) and delivered all music for Roy Williams' theatre production History in association with Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh.
Whilst given the freedom and environment to develop musical experiences and ideas, Darren trained classically and went on to study at Trinity College of Music now known as Trinity Laban. He then became a professional pianist and keyboard player touring with artists such as Soul II Soul, Boney M and Jocelyn Brown. Darren went on to play piano, write and arrange music for West End musicals The Harder They Come and Clark Peters' Five Guys Named Moe.
Having these experiences led Darren into composition where he has developed his passion for story telling. He now scores for all different types of projects including moving picture for drama to documentary - big and small. Darren loves to draw on his broad understanding of musical styles to create everything from epic to contemporary and intimate scores.
Selected for BFI NETWORK x BAFTA Crew, he has most recently delivered the music for Amazon Prime film What Would You Do? As well as BBC Films and BFI backed The Ancestors (Dir. Zadwa Nyoni. Prod. Barrington Paul Robinson) and delivered all music for Roy Williams' theatre production History in association with Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh.
