Benoît Charest (; born in 1964) is a Canadian guitarist and

film score composer A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cue (theatrical), cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the f ...

from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He is best known for the soundtrack of the animated film ''

The Triplets of Belleville ''The Triplets of Belleville'' (french: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as ''Belleville Rendez-vous'' in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature ...

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)'' (2003), for which he won a

César Award for Best Music Written for a Film Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ces ...

as well as a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music. The song " Belleville Rendez-vous", in particular, earned him an Academy Award nomination as well as a Grammy Award nomination.

Biography

Benoît Charest was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

in 1964. At the age of 13 he started playing guitar and learned to play the songs of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

by ear. He later discovered jazz and decided at 17 to undertake private lessons with Neil Smolar, a graduate from the

Berklee School of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. During his college studies, Charest earned a living playing with established jazz musicians in Montreal.Benoît Charest's biography on the official ''Mars et Avril'' website (CREATORS section)
/ref> In 1991, Charest produced his first score for '' Montréal rétro'', a documentary produced by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

; he composed, arranged and conducted the music for the film. In the late 1990s, Charest co-founded Ben & Max Studios with musician Maxime Morin (better known as

DJ Champion Maxime Morin (born c. 1969),Martel, ...

) — a company specializing in

jingles A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

and

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

s.Devlin, Mike, "Laptop loaded, DJ hits the road", ''Times Colonist'', Mar 24, 2007 In 2001 Morin sold his share in the company back to Charest in order to continue his own personal musical career. Charest has written music for such films as '' Polytechnique'', '' Route 132'', '' A Bottle in the Gaza Sea'' and '' Upside Down''. Charest composed the score for the 2009

animated short '' Runaway'', written and directed by

Cordell Barker Cordell Barker (born 1956) is a Canadian animator based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He began animating in his late teens after taking on an apprenticeship at Kenn Perkins Animation. A two-time Academy Award nominee, Barker is an animation filmmaker wi ...

. He wrote the soundtrack for

Martin Villeneuve Martin Villeneuve () is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, director, actor, and art director. He was nominated at the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Award) in 2013 for Best Adapted Screenplay, for '' Mars et Avril'', his feature film debut ...

's sci-fi film '' Mars et Avril'', nominated at the 2013

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

and at the 2013

Jutra Awards The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.The Triplets of Belleville ''The Triplets of Belleville'' (french: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as ''Belleville Rendez-vous'' in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature ...

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)''. The film's score garnered him a César Award for Best Music Written for a Film and the song " Belleville Rendez-vous" earned him an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for Best Original Song in 2004. Charest, along with his then wife, vocalist Béatrice Bonifassi, performed "Belleville Rendez-vous" at the

76th Academy Awards The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

ceremony — Maxime Morin played percussion on a bicycle during the live performance.Benson, Denise, "Champion & His G-Strings", ''Eye Weekly'', Nov 23, 2006 Charest has also composed music for television, theatre, and more than sixty commercials. On October 22, 2013, Benoît Charest won the Félix in the category "Album of the year – original soundtrack" at the

ADISQ ADISQ (french: Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video; eng, Québec Association for the Recording, Concert and Video Industries, link=yes) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the indep ...

Gala for his work on '' Mars et Avril''. For the occasion, a limited edition of 300 vinyl records of the soundtrack was released, as a nod to the retro-futuristic look of the film.Benoît Charest: How music can set you free
BULB, December 2, 2013

Selected filmography

* 1992: '' Montréal rétro'' * 1999: ''

Matroni and Me ''Matroni and Me'' (french: Matroni et moi) is a Canadian comedy film, directed by Jean-Philippe Duval and released in 1999.Life After Love (La Vie après l'amour)'' * 2000: '' The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne'' (TV series, 1 episode) * 2003: ''

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)'' * 2005:

ceremony: " Belleville Rendez-vous" * 2006: '' Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders'' (documentary) * 2007: ''

My Aunt Aline ''My Aunt Aline'' (french: Ma tante Aline) is a 2007 Canadian comedy film directed by Gabriel Pelletier. Plot Geneviève Saint-Louis (Sylvie Léonard) is a successful career woman who does nothing but work. One day, her aunt Aline (Béatrice Picar ...

(Ma tante Aline)'' * 2008: '' Adam's Wall'' * 2009: '' Runaway'' (short) * 2009: '' Polytechnique'' * 2010: '' Route 132'' * 2011: '' A Bottle in the Gaza Sea'' * 2012: '' Upside Down'' * 2012: '' Mars et Avril'' * 2013: '' The Boy Who Smells Like Fish'' * 2014: ''

The Wanted 18 ''The Wanted 18'' is a 2014 Palestinian-Canadian animated documentary about the efforts of Palestinians in Beit Sahour to start a small local dairy industry during the First Intifada, hiding a herd of 18 dairy cows from Israeli security forces wh ...

'' * 2015: ''

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ''Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell'' is the debut novel by British writer Susanna Clarke. Published in 2004, it is an alternative history set in 19th-century England around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Its premise is that magic once existed i ...

'' (TV series, composed with Benoît Groulx) * 2015: ''

Paul à Québec ''Paul à Québec'' ("Paul in Quebec City") is a Canadian drama film from Quebec, directed by François Bouvier and released in 2015.Radius In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...

'' * 2020: '' Imelda Trilogy'' * 2022: '' The 12 Tasks of Imelda (Les 12 travaux d'Imelda)''

Awards and nominations

Awards *2013: Félix in the category Album of the year – original soundtrack at the

Gala, '' Mars et Avril''. *2004:

, ''

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)''. *2004: Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, ''

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)''. *2004: Golden Star of the French Cinema Press for Achievement in music, ''

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)''. *2004:

Félix Award The Félix Award (french: Trophée Félix or Prix Félix) is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' ( ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian ...

for Achievement in music, ''

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)''. Nominations *2013:

and

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)''. *2004: Academy Award nomination, ''

(Les Triplettes de Belleville)''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charest, Benoit Canadian film score composers Male film score composers Canadian guitarists Musicians from Montreal César Award winners 1964 births Living people French Quebecers Canadian male guitarists