Benedict Schlepper-Connolly

Benedict Schlepper-Connolly is a composer, musician and producer from
Dublin. As a composer, he moves between various musical forms, including
chamber music, choral writing, orchestral work, arrangement, songwriting, field
recording and music for dance and film. Benedict’s compositions frequently seek
out an ecstatic quality, with a reduced palette of materials, rich tonal harmonies
and rhythmic intricacy.

In recent years Benedict has worked with a range of orchestras and groups such
as the rté National Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Klang, Crash Ensemble
and Slagwerk den Haag. Recurring collaborations with performers such as
vocalist Michelle O’Rourke, pianist Michael McHale and cellist Kate Ellis,
feature prominently in his output.

He has worked with musicians from across a wide musical spectrum, including
Iarla Ó Lionáird, Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman) and Sam Amidon. In 2024,
Benedict was the composer for the critically acclaimed theatre production
Shades Through A Shade by Gare St Lazare (dir. Judy Hegarty Lovett), which
premiered at Dublin Theatre Festival.

As a performer, Benedict plays a variety of instruments, most frequently appears
as a violinist and guitarist with the trio There Is An Island, for which he is also a
songwriter.

Benedict has produced over a dozen records, working in many studios, bespoke
recording facilities and live recording environments across Europe. He has
produced and mixed recordings for composers and performers such as Simon
O’Connor, Maya Homburger and Barry Guy, Frankie Gavin and the Irish
Youth Chamber Choir among many others.

Born in Ireland to an Irish father and German mother, Benedict studied
composition with Donnacha Dennehy, Yannis Kyriakides and Peter Adriaansz
at both Trinity College, Dublin, and at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague.

Along with Garrett Sholdice, Benedict runs Ergodos, a record label and
production company founded in 2006. His debut solo album, The Weathered
Stone, was released on the Ergodos label in 2016. Benedict is published by
Phantom Limb and Ergodos.