Dudley Benson (Ngāti Pākehā) is a composer, producer and performer from Aotearoa, New Zealand. To date he has released two albums (The Awakening, Forest), three EPs, and delivered two nationwide tours (2008, 2010), cementing his place as one of the most innovative and unpredictable voices in New Zealand music.

A former boy chorister of the Christchurch Cathedral, in 2006 Benson released his music-school written songs as the handmade Steam Railways of Britain EP & The Orders, Medals & Decorations EP, through his own label Golden Retriever Records. Selling out within their first month of release, Benson completed the trilogy with a 12” remix EP with reconstructions by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (US) and Stefanimal (NZ), and cover artwork by celebrated New Zealand painter Peter Stichbury. It was his 2008 debut LP The Awakening, however that heralded his musical arrival in a subtle, yet profoundly distinctive way.

A testament to loss, the passing of time, and the Southern landscape of Benson’s native Canterbury, The Awakening is a song cycle that weaves together memories of New Zealand’s colonial past with a personal and emotional nostalgia for childhood. Three years in the making and featuring Benson accompanied by a tapestry of harpsichord, choir, string and recorder quartets, The Awakening is also playful, redemptive and uplifting. Produced by Benson, recorded by Adrian Hollay (Radio NZ) and mastered by Mandy Parnell (Max Richter, Dirty Projectors), the album was a critical success. Its status was further confirmed by a nationwide tour of New Zealand’s historic churches and cathedrals with Benson’s ensemble of choir, string quartet and taonga puoro authority Dr Richard Nunns.

After presenting a new work for Barbara Morgenstern’s Wassermusik festival in Berlin, performing a commission by the Auckland Art Gallery in response to Te Papa’s Rita Angus: Life & Vision retrospective, and publishing The Awakening: Supplementary Workbook, Benson embarked on creating his anticipated second album.

While visiting the Southern bird sanctuary Ulva Island, Benson became deeply concerned by the silence that permeated the forests, and the greater plight of Aotearoa’s native birdlife. So, inspired by his love for the waiata of the renowned composer Hirini Melbourne (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu), Benson arranged his own interpretations of Melbourne’s bird songs and in late 2010 announced their release as Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne.

Recorded almost entirely with only the human voice and sung largely in te reo Māori, Forest tells the stories of New Zealand’s native birds through seven vividly textured pop pieces that exist somewhere between the traditions of folksong and barbershop, choral anthem and hip hop. Produced by Benson, recorded by Hollay and mastered by Parnell, the album features a bold contingent of guest artists including close-harmony vocal quartet The Dawn Chorus, reigning Aotearoa beatbox champion King Homeboy, and legendary folk matriarch Vashti Bunyan.

Benson performed the critically lauded Forest live on a ten-date marae and community hall tour, Live with the Dawn Chorus, with his all-vocal ensemble of alt-barbershoppers, Australian-based female beatboxer Hopey One, and maverick dance artist Cat Ruka.

Based in Dunedin, Benson is developing several new projects in 2011, including a forthcoming release.


1983       Born in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa

1994       Head Soloist, Christchurch Cathedral Choir

2002-4   Composition student, University of Canterbury School of Music

2006       Golden Retriever Records set up in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

                Steam Railways of Britain EP released in Aotearoa

                The Orders, Medals & Decorations EP released in Aotearoa

                Opens for Animal Collective, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

2007       Minerals & Rocks 12" EP released in Aotearoa

2008       The Awakening LP released in Aotearoa

                The Awakening: National Church Tour

                Composes for Barbara Morgenstern's Wassermusik Festival, Berlin

2009       Auckland Art Gallery commission: A Performance in Openness (In                         Three Parts)

                The Awakening: Supplementary Workbook published in Aotearoa by                     Golden Retriever Press

2010       Forest: Songs by Hirini Melbourne LP released in Aotearoa

                Live with the Dawn Chorus & Cat Ruka national tour

                Bachelor of Arts, Māori Studies, University of Auckland

2011       Department of Conservation Artist in Residence, Naseby, Central                           Otago

                Live Series: Volume One LP released in Aotearoa

                Roots ebook published by Golden Retriever Press