Benoît Charest (born in 1964) is a Canadian guitarist and film score composer from Quebec.
He is best known for the soundtrack of the animated film Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003), for
which he won a César Award for Best Music Written for a Film as well as a Los Angeles Film
Critics Association Award for Best Music. The song "Belleville Rendez-vous", in particular,
earned him an Academy Award nomination as well as a Grammy Award nomination and a live
performance at the Oscar ceremony in 2004.
At the age of 13, he developed a passion for the guitar and for learning music such as Beatles and
Led Zeppelin by ear. Inevitably he discovered jazz and at the age of 17 he decided to take private
classes with Neil Smolar, qualified at Boston’s Berkley School of Music. He learned the basics
of harmony, which helped him enormously master the playing of an instrument and understand
music in general. During his university studies Benoit played with best jazzmen of Montreal.
In 1991, he signed his first contract writing music for the film « Montreal Retro » for which
he composed, arranged and directed the music. Since then, he has composed more than 15 film
soundtracks working with best movie director in Canada and in Europe.
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