For ten years, this French-Canadian composer was music director and principal composer for the world-renowned and critically acclaimed Cirque du Soleil. His works for Cirque du Soleil include the resident show O at Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel, and La Nouba, now playing at Disney World in Florida. An earlier production, Quidam, is currently touring Europe, while yet another, Mystère, is being presented at the Treasure Island Hotel in Las Vegas. Benoît Jutras also created the original soundtracks of two films produced by Cirque du Soleil, the IMAX production of Journey of Man, and Alegría, for which he received a Jutra award for best original score. Francesco il Musical, an Italian production based on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, represents some of Benoît Jutras' more recent compositional work.

Benoît Jutras’ love affair with music started at the early age of five, and he was already giving his first concerts at six. He was only 18 when he first heard Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and decided he wanted to become a composer. Benoît holds a master’s degree in composing and music writing from the Conservatoire de Montréal, where he was awarded two first prizes. He believes composing is "like dancing with the universe — a perpetual movement creating an ever-changing dance."

Amongst his many achievements, Benoît was composer and music director for the television series The Hunger, produced by Tony and Ridley Scott, for IMAX 3D movies such as Journey of Man and Ultimate G’s, for the Circus Knie of Switzerland, for which he also conducted the orchestra, and for the École Nationale de Cirque. He also won the Best Composer award at the Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo.

Benoît’s musical tastes are eclectic: ”With globalization, a merging of styles is unavoidable, and the final objective is not to simply extract what is obvious, but to merge the real essence of each style in order to create something authentic and innovative.”

TIMELINE

1998-2000

• Winner of a Jutra award for “Best Original Score” (Alegría, the movie)
• Composer of Francesco il Musical, the Italian production based on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, written by Vincenzo Cerami (Life is Beautiful). Directed by Elijah Moshinsky and produced by Richard C. Leach. Premiered in Assisi in 2000.
• Composer for the IMAX 3D film Ultimate G’s, directed by Keith Melton (Journey of Man) and produced by Sky High International.
• Composer for the IMAX 3D film Journey of Man, directed by Keith Melton and produced by Sony Picture Classics, in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. (Soundtrack reviews: 1, 2)
• Composer and music director of O, a Cirque du Soleil celebration of life and death, presented at the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas.
• Composer and music director of La Nouba, a theatrical journey of the senses from Cirque du Soleil, on stage at Walt Disney World in Florida.
• Composer of the original soundtrack for the movie Alegría, inspired by the same-name production of Cirque du Soleil, directed by Franco Dragone.
• Composer and co-producer of the soundtrack of Alegría, the movie.
• Composer and co-producer of the CD recordings of O and La Nouba.

1996-97

• Composer for the SHOWTIME channel television series The Hunger, produced by Tony and Ridley Scott, based in part on the same-name cult identified in 1983.
• Composer and music director of Quidam, the dramatic production of Cirque du Soleil.
• Composer and music director of Le Diner Farfelu, a cabaret-style production presented at the Casino de Montréal.
• Winner of the Best Circus Composer award, at the Monte Carlo Circus Festival, for Circus Knie of Switzerland, one of the most renowned European circuses.

1994-95

• Composer and music director of Mystère, the artistic desert oasis produced by Cirque du Soleil, currently on stage at the Las Vegas Treasure Island Hotel.
• Composer and music director for Circus Knie of Switzerland, in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, on an intensive 60-day tour of Switzerland.
• Composer and music director for the Canadian government command performance in honor of heads of state assembled for the G7 summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

1990-93

• Composer, music director and conductor for Cirque Réinventé, the first Cirque du Soleil production to tour in Europe.
• Composer, music director and conductor for Fascination, the first Cirque du Soleil production to tour in Japan.

1987-89

• Co-composer and conductor for the first North American tour of Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Réinventé.
• Producer of the studio recording of Cirque Réinventé.
• Composer for the Cirque du Tonnerre.

Academic achievements

• Master’s degree in composition at the Conservatoire de Montréal from 1984 to 1987.
• Winner of two composition first prizes at the Conservatoire.