"Xenia works within a musical field whose boundaries seem, with each passing year, to expand, both literally and metaphorically. Between instrument and body, between action and listening, an artistic practice has emerged in which music and life breathe in tandem… Taken together, she is an artistic voice that resists apprehension."
Composer, pianist and improviser Xenia Pestova Bennett’s work spans a wide range of sound worlds from classical and contemporary art music to free improvisation, electronica, multimedia and avant pop. She explores classical music boundaries with electronics, toy pianos, synthesizers and the magical and mysterious Magnetic Resonator Piano.
Since receiving the unanimous First Prize at the Xavier Montsalvatge International Piano Competition in Girona, Spain and prizes at the Messiaen International Piano Competition in Paris and the KeriKeri Piano Competition of New Zealand, Xenia has performed in over 20 countries. As a pianist interpreting works by living composers, Xenia has been featured at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, National Concert Hall in Dublin, The Glasshouse Gateshead, Glasgow Royal Concert Halls, Festival Archipel (Geneva), Approximation (Dusseldorf), Ars Musica (Brussels), Christchurch Arts Festival (New Zealand), Lanaudière (Canada), London Contemporary Music Festival, Musica (Strasbourg), New Music Dublin, Royal Albert Hall (London), Sonorities (Belfast), Spark (USA), Rainy Days (Luxembourg) and Voix Nouvelles Royaumont (France). She has also performed in a tropical rainforest, on a river ferry, deep inside cave systems and underground fortresses and while partially submerged in a pond.
As a composer, Xenia is represented by the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland. Her music is available on Diatribe Records, TakuRoku and NMC Recordings. Her portrait album "Atomic Legacies" features Ligeti Quartet and the Magnetic Resonator Piano. Highlighted in Bandcamp's "Best of Contemporary Classical" in 2020, the album was reviewed as "boldly conceived and brilliantly realised... a foretaste of things to come" (Julian Cowley, The Wire), "intoxicating, extraordinarily eerie and evocative” (Bernard Clarke, RTE LyricFM), "melancholy... heart-swells and proper feelings" (Jennifer Lucy Allan, The Quietus) and "a nuclear musical reaction that produces great, irradiated beauty" (Tom Service, BBC Radio 3).
PJ Harvey included Xenia’s piece “Actinium” on the “strengthening and inspiring” listening list of 2025. Xenia was a featured composer in the PRS Foundation New Music Biennial 2025 with her piece “GLOW”, commissioned by the Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble and described as “a shimmering, spooky set of movements woven through with spine-tingling narration about weird light phenomena in Danish, Welsh and Turkish” (The Guardian). In 2026, Xenia was selected as one of four composers for the highly competitive London Symphony Orchestra Soundhub scheme.
Xenia studied piano and composition in New Zealand, the UK, The Netherlands, France and Canada. She holds a Doctorate from McGill University. Prior to dedicating her energies fully to her freelance career, Xenia spent twelve years in academia as Head of Performance at Bangor University in North Wales, Director of Performance and Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham and visiting Professor of Music at Gresham College, London. Her interest in health and optimal performance led to extensive accredited teacher training in yoga, breathwork and meditation practices. In addition to her performance career, Xenia is in demand as a wellbeing instructor, coach and lecturer for organisations and educational institutions around the world.
Xenia is a citizen of New Zealand, Canada and Ireland. She divides her time between the beautiful seaside of County Down and the rest of the world.
Balloon Photo Credit: Peter Lawson
Latest:
Light Echoes premiere in London
Xenia's new work Light Echoes was premiered at LSO St Luke's as part of the LSO Soundhub. Read more
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Beyond Borders TourXenia's piece BAILE/home was selected for the PRS Foundation Beyond Borders award to present a tour across the island Ireland, in Scotland and England. Concert dates
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Image by Alfonso Salgueiro Photography
GLOW performances at New Music Biennial and new EP
OUT NOW on NMC Recordings: GLOW is a brand new work by Xenia commissioned for the PRS Foundation New Music Biennial 2025. The piece features the Magnetic Resonator Piano and Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble. Read more
Xenia with Annea Lockwood, photo by Ed Bennett
New record - Annea Lockwood: The Piano Works
Xenia is excited to announce the release of her new album on Unsounds Records Amsterdam!
Featured Projects:
Annea Lockwood / Luc Ferrari
Xenia Pestova Bennett presents her new project featuring the works of Luc Ferrari and Annea Lockwood, as well as a selection of shorter pieces by John Cage.
Gold.Berg.Werk.
Austrian composer Karlheinz Essl offers a refreshing glimpse of a new performance practice through his unusual take on J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (1741)
Magnetic String Resonance
Pianist Xenia Pestova Bennett presents uncompromising renditions of radical text scores and improvisations on the Magnetic Resonator Piano (MRP), a new instrument designed by Andrew McPherson.
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Photo Credit: Damian Wojcik