Ben Mowat
Ben Mowat is a thoroughly creative and passionate composer, musician and teacher. His music has an extremely diverse range of influences and often contains string sections arranged and composed in a style unique to this artist. He mixes these with funk-soul influenced rhythmic backings, interesting jazz-like harmonies and an imaginative array of electronic sounds. In this website you will find a summary of Ben Mowat's life and work so far, both musical and educational.
Biography
Born in Oxford in 1984, "Ben has been making strange and repetitive noises since he was a toddler"[1] and after taking classical violin lessons at school with Stuart Attwood of Oxfordshire County Music Service from the age of 7, he progressed to writing music on computer and playing bass guitar in bands by the time he was 15. His very musical family, including his father Anthony, (pianist and a great master of harmony) as well as life growing up in the culturally diverse area of East Oxford has clearly had a big influence on this budding composer.
Between the ages of 7 and 15, Ben Mowat regularly attended contemporary dance classes with Oxford Youth Dance. This included performing in many shows in both Pegasus Theatre and The Playhouse in Oxford. Ben Mowat cites these wonderfully imaginative sessions as having a big influence on his extremely creative mind.
After completing his A-Levels at a state school in Oxford, Ben Mowat moved to Leeds in 2003 to read Popular and World Music at Leeds University, majoring in Composition. He graduated in the summer of 2006, with top marks for his composition portfolio. He lived in Leeds for a further two years, working in schools. During these 5 years, as well as composing (which is outlined further below), he has been involved in a variety of bands, projects and gigs.
Since leaving Leeds in August 2008, Ben Mowat spent several months in the south of France, acquiring French language skills. Ben Mowat is currently living in Oxford, where he has space for a recording and composing studio, and has easy access to London.
