Born in Brazil, François Benda comes from a long line of professional musicians. He completed his studies in Graz and Geneva (clarinet, composition, conducting) and made his solo debut in 1988 at Zurich’s Tonhalle and at Geneva’s Victoria Hall. He has been awarded the “Premio internationale per le Arti dello Spettaccolo” in Rome. François Benda performs at the most important music venues and appears as clarinet soloist with many leading orchestras. He is a highly sought after performing artist both as a soloist and chamber music partner and regularly appears as a guest artist at festivals such as the Berliner Festwochen, Styriarte, Musicades Lyon, and the Pentecost Concerts in Ittingen (Switzerland). He has performed chamber music with Heinz Holliger, Paul Badura- Skoda, Bruno Giuranna, Isabelle Faust, Josef Silverstein, and Bruno Canino. In addition, he is professor at Berlin’s Universität der Künste and teaches at Basel’s Hochschule für Musik.