Benjamin Narvey was born in Montréal in 1978 and began his musical training in 1981 with the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto). Upon completion of his conservatory training in classical guitar in Canada, he took a Bachelor of Music degree from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where he studied the lute and continuo with David Miller. Benjamin has also benefited as a lutenist from lessons with Nigel North, Robert Barto, Pat O'Brien, Stephen Stubbs, William Carter, Elizabeth Kenny, Jacob Heringman, Lynda Sayce and Paula Chateauneuf, and also from masterclasses with Paul O'Dette. Benjamin has also refined his understanding of diverse aspects of period performance under the tutelage of Emma Kirkby, Anthony Rooley, Rachel Podger, Nancy Hadden, Stephen Preston, Nicholas Parle, Pamela Thorby, and Rachel Brown.
Augmenting his career as an historical performer, Benjamin is also active as a musicologist specialising in the French Baroque. Under the joint supervision of Edward Higginbottom (Performance Practice), Bojan Bujic (Aesthetics), and Suzannah Clark (Music Theory), Benjamin took his Master of Studies degree from the University of Oxford in 2004, where he researched elements of enlightenment tonal theory with special reference to the writings of Jean-Philippe Rameau. Benjamin has continued at Oxford in order to pursue the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music, researching the lute music of Robert de Visée, musicien de chambre to Louis XIV. The preparation of this degree is under the supervision of Dr Suzannah Clark (Merton College, Oxford) and Dr Timothy Crawford (Goldsmith's College, University of London).
In 2005, Benjamin was awarded the Lute Society of America Scholarship, and became the Invited Lecturer and Guest Performer at the Lute Society of America Western Seminar 2005, which was held in conjunction with the Vancouver Early Music Festival (Canada).
Benjamin currently resides in Paris in order to better carry out his research, whilst continuing as a professional lutenist performing both as a soloist and with numerous singers and ensembles. Recent performance highlights include appearances at the Mars en Baroque Festival (Marseille, Aix-en-Provence), the Brighton Early Music Festival, the City of London Festival, and in concerts accompanying singers Matthew Vine, Robert MacDonald and Ian Honeyman.
