Esteban Benzecry (born 1970) is an Argentine classical composer. Early years Benzecry was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1970 to Argentine parents. He grew up in Argentina where he studied musical composition with Sergio Hualpa and Haydee Gerardi. He moved to Paris in 1997, where he studied composition with Jacques Charpentier, Professor of the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris. He obtained the "Premier Prix a l'unanimitè" in composition in 1999. He also studied composition with Paul Méfano, and Electro acoustic music with Luis Naón and Laurent Cuniot. He became a French citizen in 2011. Career In 1992 he was named "The young revelation of the Season" by the Musical Critics Association of Argentina. The same association awarded him with the prize "The best Argentine work premiered in the Season 1994, 2006, 2009, 2017". He has been a fellow of the Interamerican Music Friends of Washington (USA), Mozarteum Argentino, and Academie des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France. In 1995 he was invited as Resident Composer at the Yehudi Menuhin Academy (Switzerland). The Academie des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France awarded him the prize from the Foundation Delmas in 1999, the prize Tronchet in 2002, and the prize Georges Wildenstein in 2006. In 2004, he received the Fondation groupe d’entreprise Natexis Banques Populaires Award for music. He is Resident Composer at the Casa de Velazquez of Madrid for 2004–2006 (Academie de France a Madrid). In 2008 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition. In 2019 he receives the Konex Platinum award as the best composer of the decade in Argentina. Compositions He has written three symphonies. His first symphony, "El compendio de la vida" (1993) was inspired by four of his own canvases. He has also written other symphonic and chamber works. His most recent works attempt a fusion between rhythms with Latin American roots and the diverse aesthetic currents of European contemporary music creating a personal language, an imaginary folklore. Le Monde de la musique has called him a distant heir to Villa-Lobos and Ginastera because of his imaginative use of the Latin-American musical patrimony. Performances His works have been played in Europe and the United States. Among the interpreters that have performed his works are: The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Tampere Philharmonic, Stavanger