Dudley Benson (Ngāti Pākehā) has been unassumingly making a name for himself through composing and performing music that is both beautiful and unique. A former chorister at the Christchurch Cathedral, Benson released the Steam Railways of Britain EP and The Orders, Medals and Decorations EP through his own label Golden Retriever Records in 2006. Further public notice followed supporting slots for Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Animal Collective. It was Benson’s 2008 debut album The Awakening however, that announced his musical arrival in a subtle yet profoundly distinctive way. Deeply rooted in Benson’s native Canterbury, the album weaves forgotten local stories, the Southern landscape, New Zealand’s colonial past and personal history into an emotionally stunning song cycle. A testament to loss, the passing of time, and populated by ghosts from Benson’s memories, The Awakening is also playful, redemptive and uplifting.  Three years in the making, featuring choir, string and recorder quartets and mastered by Mandy Parnell (Vashti Bunyan, Max Richter), the album was a critical success. Produced by Benson and engineered by Adrian Hollay (Radio New Zealand), The New Zealand Listener called The Awakening “a sophisticated, beguiling cycle of songs that tugs at the emotions and pulls on the ear as hard as any rock ‘n’ roll”. Grant Smithies in the Sunday Star-Times declared it “marvellous beyond belief…an album that strikes a blow for individuality, originality, and best of all, pure beauty.” The album’s status was further confirmed by a breakthrough nationwide tour of New Zealand’s most beautiful churches with Benson and his choir and string quartet accompanied by karanga manu authority Dr Richard Nunns. Following the 2008 tour Benson composed a choral piece for Barbara Morgenstern’s Wassermusik festival performance in Berlin. In 2009 he was commissioned by The Auckland Art Gallery to compose and perform a response to the Rita Angus national retrospective, Life & Vision, and on November 1st presented A Performance in Openness (In Three Parts).  Also in 2009 Benson published The Awakening: Supplementary Workbook - a collection of writing and artwork that expands on the album’s creation. Benson is currently researching a new project at The University of Auckland's Māori Studies Department.                                                  - Brannavan Gnanalingam