Benjamin Coyte
Violoncello
About the Artist
Benjamin Coyte is a performer and interpreter of contemporary music. He is interested in the broad diversity of the modern sound arts and the multitude of expression available on (and off) the cello. As a chamber musician he works in various settings to perform modern “classics” of contemporary music. Improvisation and interdisciplinary performance are also frequent parts of his work.
Originally from Orange County in California, Benjamin Coyte traveled to Germany in 2013 to pursue Masters degrees in solo cello and chamber music at the Conservatory of Music in Trossingen, Germany studying with Mario DeSecondi. Contemporary music brought him to Basel, Switzerland, where he persued a master in specialized music performance at the Hochschule für Musik Basel under the instruction of Mike Svoboda, Marcus Weiss, and Jürg Henneberger. Simultaneously to his studies in Basel, he pursued a final masters in culture and media management at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg where he graduated in 2022.
His talents on the instrument have earned him stipends and scholarships through the Deutschlandstipendium (2019/20), Klangspektrum Baden-Württemberg (2020), several scholarships through the Music Academy Basel and a stipend through the Deutscher Musikrat (2023).
Of particular interest to Benjamin Coyte is the creation of new works through commissions. As a competent organizer Benjamin Coyte finds himself heavily involved in the planning, conceptualizing and execution of various such experimental projects. Particularly through his work as part of the latenz ensemble (Switzerland) and ensemble semblance (France) he is heavily involved in the creative development of new pieces in close collaboration with a diverse group of young composers. He has also performed as a guest in projects with many reputed ensembles such as Collegium Novum (CH), Ensemble Recherche (DE), Ensemble neuverBand (CH), Ensemble SoundTrieb (CH), ensemble scope (DE), and Vertixe Sonora (ES).
Benjamin Coyte is also interested in making contemporary music more accessible to new audiences by creating a space for contextualized encounters with contemporary music. One method of particular interest is by showing the inner workings of practice as a contemporary music specialist. Through livestreams practice sessions on Twitch, he explains his process of learning and interpreting contemporary music to the audience and guides them on which sounds to listen for and what effects are intended based on the musical score.
