Biography

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Benjamin Skepper commenced western classical music education at 2 years of age. Hailed a child prodigy, he toured Australia by 7 years old as a solo pianist, boy soprano, and the youngest self-taught harpsichordist in Australia. By 10, he was performing Mozart piano concertos with full orchestra internationally. His passion for music continued with the violoncello, performing with symphonic and chamber orchestras nationwide.

Expanding upon 20 years of classical experience, Benjamin ventured into composition and production, improvisation, sound and performance art, sound installation and interdisciplinary collaborations. His passion for film and screen has brought him commissions for film scores and TV CMs and BGM music. As a producer and recording artist , he has worked across multiple genres, featuring on top record labels including Colombia Music (Japan), Avex (Japan), and hip-hop labels Tru Thoughts (UK), Big Dada and Ninja Tunes (UK). He has taken stage at major Australian music festivals, touring nationally and releasing two albums with his Melbourne based trip-hop band (2005-06).

Lauded for his creations at Tokyo and Paris fashion weeks, Benjamin works closely with fashion and luxury brands and VIP events, most recently for Phillip Treacy and Dita von Teese in Melbourne and at Fiat 500 by Gucci in Tokyo. In the field of contemporary art, he presented performance art works and sound installations at the Museo del Novecento (Milan), “Culture Warriors”, Australia’s first Indigenous Art Triennial at the National Gallery (Canberra), as artist-in-residence at “No Mans Land” (French Embassy, Tokyo), “Sight and Sound” at The Arts Centre (Victoria), and at “Rooms” Japan’s International Fashion and Design Trade Fair (Tokyo). TV appearances include iTunes Japan, MTV Italy and Australia’s “Carols By Candlelight”. He has engaged private salon performances for Austrian royalty The von Habsburgs, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Nakamatsu and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

In 2008, Benjamin launched his Tokyo based independent record label contrapuntal since releasing two solo albums on 12” vinyl. He recently participated in a sound exhibition in Tokyo alongside Ono Yoko and performances at the Venice Carnivale, on the back of an artist feature in Rolling Stone Italy (May ‘11) and Russia (July ‘11), with forthcoming editorial in AMICA magazine (Italy).

“Embodying classical aesthetic, music and culture, Benjamin Skepper is a musician with an extraordinary sense of the contemporary” (Rolling Stone Italy).


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ARTIST CHRONOLOGY (SELECTED WORKS)

MUSIC

2012
Venice Carnivale - “The Forbidden Pleasures of Cassnova” (Venice)
Theatre Royal Live Performance “Benjamin Skepper in Concert” (Victoria)
2011
Rolling Stone Russia Artist Feature and Interview 2011 Edition #84 (Russia)
Rolling Stone Italia Artist Feature and Interview 2011 Edition #91 (Italy)
Promotional Video for Fabriano Jazz Festival Umbria (Rome)
“Rooms 22” Japan Fashion and Design Trade Fair Sound Installation (Tokyo)
Chapel Off Chapel “Inimitable” (Melbourne)
2010
ExperIstanbul at 60m2 (Istanbul)
amfAR Gala Vienna Life Ball VIP event (Vienna)
2007
FINA International Swimming Championships (Melbourne)
2006-2007
Meredith Music Festival, Rainbow Serpent Festival, Folk Rhythm and Life Festival, St. Kilda Festival, Tasmanian Forest Festival (Australia)
2003-2004
2003-2004 Environ Sessions with Uberlingua at Loop Bar (Melbourne)
1995 to present
Live performances at Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne Concert Hall, Dallas Brooks Hall, Victorian Arts Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Northcote Social Club, Corner Hotel, Esplanade Hotel, Evelyn Hotel, East Brunswick Club, Revolver Upstairs (Melbourne), Abercrombie, Beach Hotel (Sydney), Solbar (Brisbane), Mojos Bar, Civic Hotel (Perth)
1991
International Music tour for Suzuki Music (New Zealand)

SOLO ALBUM RELEASES

2012
“Inimitable” - Third Solo Album Release at Konno Hachiman Shrine (Tokyo)
2010
“Parnassus” - Released at Konno Hachiman Shrine in Shibuya (Tokyo)
2009
“Eika 詠歌” Released at “Jiyugakuen” by Frank Lloyd Wright (Tokyo)

COMPOSITION COMMISSIONS, ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS and FILMWORKS

2012
“Fantasy in Tokyo” -co-producer and Music Director for short film release on iTunes and feature screening at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia (Japan)
2010
Electrolux “UltraSilencer” vacuum cleaner Advertising Campaign (Japan)
2009-2010
“No Mans Land” Documentary Film for the French Embassy (Tokyo)
2007
“Boodjarri Business” Documentary Film on Aboriginal Post Natal Depression for the Western Australian Government Department of Health (Perth)
BGM for “Inflight Entertainment” for Qantas Airways (Australia)
BGM for “First Tuesday Book Club” program for the ABC TV network (Australia)

LIVE PERFORMANCE ART

2012
National Gallery of Victoria “Napoleon: Revolution to Empire” (Melbourne)
2011
Museo del Novecento sound performances (Milan)
Fondazione Alda FENDI -Esperimenti di Quaresima (Rome)
2010
Museo del Novecento 20th Century Art Museum Inauguration (Milan)
“Gallery on the Hill” Opening performance installation (Tokyo)
“United Nations Museum” opening performance for the United Nations (Tokyo)
2nd Tokyo Photographic Art Fair - Opening Night Performance (Tokyo)
2007
“Culture Warriors” at the National Gallery of Australia Indigenous Triennial of Art (Canberra)
“Bright Fires” at Gertrudes Contemporary Art Spaces (Melbourne)

SOUND ART and ART EXHIBITIONS

2011
“Dirty, Dirty! Sex, Sex!”ArtGig Tokyo Group Exhibition with Yoko Ono (Tokyo)
2010
“Sight & Sound: Music & Abstraction in Australian Art” at The Victorian Arts Centre: curator Steven Tonkin (Melbourne)
2009-2010
“No Mans Land” at the French Embassy: curator Helene Kelmachter (Tokyo)
2009
“requiem d’une marionette” at PLSMIS Art Gallery (Tokyo)
“requiem d’une marionette” at Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Jiyu Gakuen” (Tokyo)
2007
National Gallery of Australia 25th Anniversary (Canberra)
Gertrudes Contemporary Art Spaces (Melbourne)

ARTIST RESIDENCIES

2009-2010
2009-2010 “No Mans Land” at the French Embassy (Tokyo)

FASHION

2011
Phillip Treacy Private VIP Fashion Show for Christines (Melbourne)
Rooms 22 International Fashion and Design Trade Fair - 3 day sound exhibition and live performance art installation (Tokyo)
2010
Paris International Fashion Week for The Viridi-Anne (Paris)
2009
Tokyo International Fashion Week for Yohji Yamamoto (Tokyo)

TELEVISION

2010
MTV Italy Interview (Milan)
2009
Tokyo Television Morning News (3 December, Tokyo) iTunes Japan “Versus” TBS Television Network (Tokyo)
1990
“New Faces” Channel 9 Television Network (Melbourne)
1989-1991
“Carols By Candelight” with The National Boys Choir (Melbourne)

CORPORATE EVENTS

2011
FIAT 500 by Gucci “Chicnic” VIP Launch at the Italian Embassy (Tokyo)
2008
Claska Hotel (Tokyo)
2007
Australian Greens Federal Political Party Campaign Launch (Melbourne)
Government of Victoria Department of Environment Conference (Melbourne)
1997
National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne)
1996
Mercedez Benz (Melbourne)

CHARITY EVENTS

2010
“Black Wave: Help Haiti” Charity Event for the Japan Red Cross (Tokyo) “Mode for Charity” for the White Ribbon Alliance and W.H.O (Tokyo)
2006
Fundraising event for the Gyuto Monks of Tibet (Melbourne)
1996
Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria (Melbourne)
1994
Malcom Sargeant Cancer Fund Appeal (Melbourne)

PRIVATE PERFORMANCES AND PATRONS

2011
Adriana Sartogo (Rome) Benedetta Brachetti Peretti (Rome)
2010
Friends of Le Centre du Pompidou (Tokyo)
2009
Archduchess of Austria TB-A 21 Chairwoman, Francesca von Hapsburg (Tokyo)
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Nakamatsu (Tokyo)
2007
The Gyuto Monks of Tibet (Melbourne)
1995
Welcome Ceremony for His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet (Melbourne)
1990
Sir Sidney Ballieu Myer (Melbourne)

MUSIC CONFERENCES AND MASTERCLASSES

1994-1996
Melbourne String Ensemble directed by Mr. Fintan Murphy (Melbourne)
1994-1995
Melbourne Youth Music (Melbourne)
1990-1991
“Studio Appia” directed by Mr. Richard Owen (Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney)
1990
Suzuki Music at Cambridge University (New Zealand)
Adelaide University with “Carinya Strings” directed by Mr. Andrew Schellhorn and patronised by Sir Sidney Ballieu Myer (Adelaide)
1989-1991
“The National Boys Choir Australia” directed by Mr. Peter Casey (Melbourne)