BENJAMIN VALETTE

 

Classical Guitar

France

Benjamin Valette discovered the guitar at the French chanson concerts organised by his grandfather. As a child, he listened, fascinated, to artists who sang while accompanying themselves. He then decided that he wanted to do the same.

He entered the Conservatoire and took his first steps into a world he would never leave.

Benjamin Valette follows in a demanding tradition through his studies at the CNSM. Alongside Roland Dyens and Judicaël Perroy, he explored different musical languages and styles, learned the fundamentals of orchestration and arranging, and forged an identity as a complete guitarist.

On stage, his concerts take the form of musical journeys: a story or a particular period creates links between the works he performs. Through the guitar, he brings to life great works from the classical repertoire, new compositions and, at times, popular pieces.

He has performed at major festivals in France and abroad—including in the United States, Colombia and Indonesia—as well as at events such as La Folle Journée de Nantes and the Théâtre du Châtelet. In doing so, he continues to champion the idea of an open, sometimes demanding music that speaks to audiences of all kinds. Following his first solo album in 2013, Bach, Telemann, Weiss—awarded four stars by Classica magazine—he has recorded around ten albums, each with its own distinctive universe. As a founding member of the Éclisses Quartet, he also pursues chamber music projects alongside his personal endeavours, many of which have been broadcast on France Musique, Radio Classique and FIP.

Today, his Tango Nuevo project explores the delicate balance between art music and popular energy. Benjamin immerses audiences in the musical world that surrounded Piazzolla during the composition of The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires in Argentina in the 1970s.

Benjamin views the guitar as a small orchestra, drawing from it a wide range of sounds, colours and timbres to create a luminous and contrasting sonic palette. This “orchestra-neck” instrument, as Libération described it, expands the guitar’s repertoire through his arrangements and new works created in collaboration with composers such as Karol Beffa, Matthieu Stefanelli, Antoine Boyer and Sergio Assad.

Benjamin Valette has also created the YouTube channel Benjamin French Guitar, which has 10,000 subscribers. There, he shares his expertise and showcases the world of classical guitar.

In this way, he is forging a distinctive artistic path where education, creation and freedom intersect, with the aim of bringing art music closer to audiences and giving it a more tangible, human presence.

Benjamin plays Savarez strings.