Benjamin Staern (b. 1978) is widely regarded as one of Scandinavia’s leading composers of his generation. His music is performed regularly throughout Europe, North America, Russia, and Japan.

His early musical training in cello, piano, and percussion formed the basis for studies in musicology at Lund University, followed by composition at the Malmö Academy of Music (1998–2005), where he studied with Rolf Martinsson, Hans Gefors, Per Mårtensson, Kent Olofsson and Luca Francesconi.

Staern’s output spans orchestral, chamber, solo, electroacoustic, choral, and operatic works, united by a distinctive and highly personal musical language. Central to his artistic identity is synesthesia: tones and timbres are experienced as colors, a perceptual phenomenon that plays an active role in his compositional process and informs works such as Yellow Skies, Colour Wandering, and Air–Spiral–Light.

From 2010 to 2014, Staern served as composer-in-residence with the New European Ensemble, a collaboration that resulted in major works including Tranströmersånger (based on poems by Tomas Tranströmer) and Bells and Waves, which received the SMFF Award in 2011. His multimedia work SAIYAH, created with Yoko Seyama, premiered at Norrlandsoperan during the MADE Festival in 2014. In 2012, his Clarinet Concerto – Worried Souls was awarded the Large Christ Johnson Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

In 2016, Staern was featured as “Composer in Profile” at the Båstad Chamber Music Festival and premiered his first opera, Snow Queen (libretto by Anelia Kadieva Jonsson), at Malmö Opera to critical acclaim. His second opera, HILMA: An Opera About Hidden Art (libretto by Mira Bartov), explores the life and legacy of Hilma af Klint and has been performed at Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

A composer weekend at Stockholm’s Konserthuset later presented thirteen of Staern’s major works, including two world premieres. He is currently Artist-in-Residence with Västerås Sinfonietta (2023–2026) and served as Composer-in-Residence at the Nordic Song Festival 2025 in Trollhättan. Alongside his compositional work, Staern is actively engaged in music education, lecturing at Falun Musikkonservatorium, the Båstad Chamber Music Festival, De Geer Gymnasium in Norrköping, and the Gotland School of Composition.