Benoit Jutras Biography

Benoit is hard at work on a number of exciting projects including the new Franco Dragone production scheduled to open in Macau in 2009 as well as S-Trip, an

impressive multimedia project that marries dance, music and video. He is also composing the music for a special new parade Gary Goddard Entertainment will be debuting at select Six Flags parks in early 2008.

Benoit recently composed the soundtrack for the film Borderline directed by Lyne Charlebois and produced by Roger Frappier to be released in February 2008.

Michaël Girard's debut album ILTEMPO executive produced by Josélito Michaud, which was recorded both in Montreal and London's Abbey Road studios, is enriched by two very special Jutras songs-- Lasciatemi Cadere and Non Cercare Lontano , which Michaël sang with Natalie Choquette to a standing ovation during its debut performance before a large audience at La TOHU at the Montreal release party in November.

Benoit also scored the TV film Wind in the Willows, a joint BBC/CBC production starring Bob Hoskins, Matt Lucas & Imelda Staunton and directed by Rachel Tallalay.

Le Rêve, the resident show created for the multi-billion dollar megaresort Wynn Las Vegas, is another of the more recent projects undertaken by Benoit Jutras and his third production running concurrently in Vegas. Directed by Franco Dragone (Celine Dion's A New Day). This unique and extraordinary show premiered, and is currently running, in its own 2,100-seat theater.

Benoit has been one of Cirque du Soleil's premier composers for the past 20 years. Critically acclaimed productions include "O", the resident show at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, La Nouba, the resident show at Walt Disney World in Florida, and Mystère at the Treasure Island in Las Vegas, not to mention his earlier production Quidam, which concluded a lengthy tour of Asia and is currently touring in Mexico and Europe.

Benoit Jutras also composed Francesco, Il Musical with book by Vincenzo Cerami (Life Is Beautiful), a modern musical based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, which opened in it's own custom-built theater in Italy in May 2000.

In addition, he recently composed the original movie soundtracks for Robert Lepage’s Far Side Of The Moon, Cirque's Alegria the Movie, for which he earned a Claude Jutra Award for Best Original Score, and the IMAX 3D films Journey of Man and Ultimate G’s: Zac’s Flying Dream.

His music is not confined to this world; it wafted through space in the spring of 1999 when Canadian astronaut Julie Payette brought two of his compact discs, “Quidam” and “O”, aboard the space shuttle Discovery. The musical note on Payette’s crest is a reminder that humans distinguish themselves by their creativity, sensibility and adaptability—qualities that are present in all of Jutras’ compositions.

Benoit’s musical tastes are as eclectic as the Cirque’s many shows – classical, trip hop, electronic, pop, world beat – and he fuses these styles and loves to compliment images, whether for film or the stage.