Martín Benvenuto is one of the leading choir conductors in the San Francisco Bay Area
and beyond. A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Benvenuto is the Founder and Artistic
Director of 21V, a Bay Area professional ensemble of soprano and alto voices of all
gender identities with a focus on music of the 21st century of the Americas. He has
served as Artistic Director of the Peninsula Women’s Chorus (PWC), WomenSing (WS),
and the Contra Costa Children’s Chorus, has been on the faculty of the Piedmont East
Bay Children’s Choir, and is active as a clinician, panelist, and guest conductor home and
abroad.
Recognized for his exacting technique, and a passion for drawing the finest choral tone,
Benvenuto’s repertoire is extensive. His choirs are dedicated to commissioning new
works from upcoming and established composers from the U.S. and abroad and have
been selected to perform at Chorus America and American Choral Directors Association
(ACDA) conferences.
His choirs have also earned honors and high marks in international competitions in
Argentina, South Africa, Canada, Hungary, and Spain. Of note are PWC’s American
Prize in Choral Performance (winner in 2015, second place in 2011), the 2010 Chorus
America/ASCAP Alice Parker award, which recognized WS for programming recently
composed music that expanded the mission of the chorus, and the Third Prize awarded to
the PWC at the 2006 Béla Bartók International Choir Competition, one of the most
prestigious on the European circuit.
Benvenuto highly values artistic collaborations: his choirs have collaborated with Veljo
Tormis, Joseph Jennings, Karmina Silec and Carmina Slovenica, Charles Bruffy,
Quinteto Latino, California Shakespeare Theater, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus,
and the Golden Gate Men’s Chorus, among others. Benvenuto has prepared choirs for
organizations such as the San Francisco Opera, the Oakland East Bay Symphony, the
Redwood Symphony, and the Kronos Quartet. He also appears as tenor soloist with
leading Bay Area ensembles.
Benvenuto holds a D.M.A. in choral conducting from Boston University, where he
studied with Ann Howard Jones and the late Robert Shaw. He earned his master’s degree
from Westminster Choir College, where he studied with Joseph Flummerfelt, majoring
both in Choral Conducting and in Voice Performance and Pedagogy. His undergraduate
degrees in choral conducting and composition are from the Universidad Católica
Argentina.
www.martinbenvenuto.com

A message from Dr. Martín Benvenuto