Benedikt Brydern studied violin and piano at the Richard-Strauss Academy of Music in Munich, Germany. He undertook private composition studies with Romanian composer Stefan Zorzor.
He was selected out of 1000 applicants for Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival to perform in the Festival Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein in 1988. He returned to the Festival in 1990 to be part in the TV series “Orchestra!” hosted by Sir Georg Solti and Dudley Moore.
After graduation in 1992 he received a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship to continue his studies in the United States where he completed the Advanced Studies Program “Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television” at the prestigious USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles.
Among the instructors were Elmer Bernstein, Christopher Young, David Raksin and Bruce Broughton. During his year at USC he won an additional scholarship sponsored by BMI.
Since then he composed the music for Jon Voight’s film “The Tin Soldier”, the Miramax Documentary “Rhyme & Reason” and several award winning independent feature films.
He won two Marmor Composition Awards sponsored by the Stanford University Music Department, the 2002 William Lincer Foundation Chamber Music Competition and in 2004 the Composer’s Symposium at the Bach Festival in Eugene, Ore., commissioned Brydern to compose a string trio in honor of George Crumb’s 75th birthday.
Besides being a classically trained concert violinist he co-founded the “Hot Club Quartette” which pays tribute to the great music of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli. He owns a 1910 Stroh-viol which he uses in “Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys” vintage band and a custom built electric violin for blues, rock and pop engagements. He played violin on various film, game and TV scores (“Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cats & Dogs 2, Command & Conquer”)
As a Past President of the Rotary Club of Hollywood and a board member of the Harmony Project, a non profit organization providing free music lessons to more than 700 under privileged children in the Los Angeles area, he connects with the community and shares his passion and love for music.
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