Renee Benson

Renee Benson is a New Orleans-based singer, songwriter, poet, and composer. Renee has performed internationally and has graced the stages of some of Europe’s and the world’s biggest festivals: Glastonbury Music Festival, Popfest, Eurovision and Life Ball. She has spent the last two years in residence at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans with Vagabond Inventions as the composer, producer, and performer for the NPN-supported “Requiem for a Stranger” and has recently released her album “LeeLah” to international acclaim with the Vogelberg Jazz Orchestra and composer Vincent Pongracz. Renee has most recently served in arts administration as the Director of Education of Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA), supporting the planning and implementation of daytime programs in schools, early childhood centers, churches, museums, and community spaces. In 2021, she was part of the National Arts Strategies Cohort in The Executive Arts Administration program through UPENN and has earned her BFA at New York University. She is a founding member of YALA’s Transformative Change Initiative, a program to increase arts and education employment trajectories for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color artists. Ms. Benson has worked as either faculty or guest presenter with the BANFF Centre of the Arts, Hamilton Education Program, and The Kennedy Center VSA facilitating workshops for Trauma Informed Practices and has led DEIA sessions for the Mississippi Teaching Artist Collaborative.

Photo: Temple of Zen