Biography
Benoit Laurent studied recorder, modern oboe and baroque oboe in Belgium (with F. de Roos, P. Dombrecht, A. Vanlancker and S. Cremers), then he studied the baroque oboe at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg with M. Niesemann
In 2008 he got a second prize at the prestigious competition for early music « Musica Antiqua » in Bruges, in the category soloist.
He recorded two G. Sammartini concerti for oboe with les Muffatti for the label Ramée (2011), Lebrun’s C-maj Oboe Concerto with les Agremens (2011) and with his own ensemble Lingua Franca an german oboe band music cd for the label Ricercar (2010) a solo recital with german sonatas (2012) and Bach’s Oboe and Violin Concerto with Kammerorchester Basel for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (2014). He then recorded a program focussing on english repertoire for Baroque oboe (Mr. Handel’s Musicians, 2018) and another exploring Venitian music with The 1750 Project (Serenissima, 2021).
Benoît plays chamber music (among others with The 1750 Project and the Wolf Ensemble) and with some of the best ensemble on period instrument like Vox Luminis, Balthasar Neumann, O [h] !, Les Passions de l’âme, Anima Eterna, Akademie für alte Musik Berlin,Concerto Köln, Capella Cracoviensis, Australian Chamber Orchestra…
He has played solo concerto as a soloist with Concerto Köln, Anima Eterna, Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, la Stagione Frankfurt, Basel Kammer Orchester, Zürcher Kammerorchester, les Agremens, les Muffatti,….
In 2020, Benoit Laurent defended a PhD Thesis on Giuseppe Sammartini and his wind instrument repertoire at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Willing to share his passions, Benoit teaches Baroque Oboe, Early Music Theory as well as Ornamentation in early musical styles at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles.