Ben is a professional violinist based in Bristol. Alongside his performance work he is also a composer, producer and teacher.
Ben has a high level experience over several genres and specialises in create the perfect set list for your event! With a passion for great music that fits the brief, Ben has a background in classical, pop and Bollywood covers, jazz, celtic folk, tango, and klezmer. As well as a more standard wedding repertoire, Ben can also bring his work in experimental and electronic music into his performance, if desired. He is also a loop pedal performer, and can improvise beautiful layers of violin and synths with beatboxing to create atmospheric and at times party dance music!
From the age of 7 Ben studied violin under renowned Oxford violin tutor Steward Attwood. During his degree in Popular & World Music at Leeds University, he took advanced violin technique and jazz lessons from the UK's leading jazz violinist, Omar Puente (who plays with UK saxophonist Courtney Pine), graduating in 2006. Since then Ben has performed and toured with many bands and ensembles including his own classical-folk-triphop crossover act, The String Project (2011 - 2017). He also performed with Bristol's Celtic Celidh band Fitty Go-Mash in their early days, Folk rock band Lucky Jim (touring the Isle of Man TT Races for several years), jazz/blues band I've Got My JoMo Working and live drum 'n bass band Phil Oakley & The Allstars. Ben has also performed at Tango dance evenings. In 2014, 15 and 16, Ben toured each summer with Cristal Bal puppet theatre in Toulouse & the Pyrenees region and he also works with Bristol Based circus company Circobatica, creating live and recorded instrumental hip-hop. Ben is a regular attender of Bristol Klezmer folk sessions. In classical music Ben has played with a variety of university and semi-professional orchestras both in Oxford, Bristol and Grenoble. As well as violin performance Ben Mowat now composes music for film, TV and media, in a broad spectrum of genres from classical to popular, including music for choir, string quartet, orchestral and electronic. He has a Distinction for his MA in Composition for Film & TV (Bristol University). Ben Mowat currently works with Murmuration Choir both as chef score creator for their original arrangements and Event Manager for the choirs medium to large scale, collaborative concerts and gigs.
Based in Bristol, Bristol
= areas covered (up to 500 miles)
= free travel (up to 5 miles)
CLASSICAL:
Air on the G String - Bach
Ave Maria - Bach/Gounod
Ave Maria - Schubert
Cannon in D - Pachelbel
Wedding March - Mendelssohn
Bridal Chorus - Wagner
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - Bach
Ode to Joy - Beethoven
Mediation - Jules Massenent
Trumpet Voluntary - Clarke
Meditation - Massenet
Partitas and Sonatas - Bach
Hungarian Dance #5 - Brahms
Romantic Pieces (No.1) - Dvorak
Ladies in Lavender - Hess
Salut d'Amour - Handle
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba - Handle
Clair de Lune - Debussy
Double Violin Concerto - Bach
Quartet 2004 - Mowat
6 Is The Magic Number - Mowat
Rondeau (from Abdelazar) - Purcell
Humouresque - Dvorak
Canon - Cesar Franck
O, For the Wings of a Dove - Felix Mendelssohn
Dance of the Blessed Spirits - Christopher Gluck
Romance (from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) - Mozart
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1st movement) - Mozart
Waltz (from Serenade for Strings) - Tchaikovsky
Espana - Emmanuel Charbrier
Traumerei (Dreaming) - Robert Schumann
On Wings of Song - Felix Mendelssohn
POP (other specific types further below:
Can't Help Falling In Love With You - Elvis
A Thousand Years - Christina Perri
You Are The Reason - Calum Scott
Dancing on My Own - Calum Scott / Robyn
Love Story - Taylor Swift
Lucky - Jason Mraz
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
Best Day of My Life - American Authors
I Don't Want to Miss A Thing - Aerosmith
Whitney Houston - I will always love
Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
Better Together - Jack Johnson
Chandelier - Sia
All About You - McFly
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Samuel Beam
Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
Crocodile Rock - Elton John
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Eye of The Tiger (Theme from Rocky III)
Rolling In The Deep - Adele
She's Always A Woman - Billy Joel
ED SHEERAN:
Shape of You
Thinking Out Loud
Perfect
Photograph
Galway Girl
COLDPLAY:
Yellow
The Scientist
Paradise
Viva la Vida
BRIDGETON STYLE:
Material Girl - Madonna
Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift
Wrecking Ball
Dancing on My Own
SINGER SONGWRITER:
Make You Feel My Love - Adele / Bob Dylan
How Long Will I Love You - Elli Golding
Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
Blowing in the Wind - Bob Dylan
SOUL, MOWTOWN, FUNK, RnB:
Killing Me Softly - Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel/Roberta Flack/Fugees
Let's Stay Together - Al Green
Get Lucky - Pharell Williams
Happy - Pharell Williams
Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson
It Takes Two - Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
The Logical Song - Supertramp
REGGAE:
Three Little Birds - Bob Marley
One Love - Bob Marley
ANYTHING BY:
Radiohead
Shakira
Portishead
Lauren Hill
SHAKIRA:
Hips Don't Lie
ALICIA KEYS:
Fallin'
No One
Girl On Fire
LINDSEY STIRLING STYLE (violin) COVERS:
All of Me
Don't You Worry Child
Fix You
Good Feeling
My Immortal
Pokemon Theme
Radio Active
Star Wars Medley
MORE ROCK:
Intro by The XX
Roxanne - Sting
Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere
Anything else by Fleetwood Mac
Time - Pink Floyd (loop pedal cover)
The Final Countdown
Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve
Born to Be Wild - Steppenwolf
DAVID BOWIE:
Life on Mars
Under Pressure (Queen and Bowie)
Ziggi Stardust
ERIC CLAPTON:
Wonderful Tonight
Layla
Tears in Heaven
BEATLES:
All You Need Is Love
Blackbird
Hey Jude
Let It Be
Love Me Do
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
With A Little Help From My Friends
Yesterday
Ticket To Ride
BOLLYWOOD and HINDI SONGS:
Pee Loon
Dil Ko Karar Aaya
Kudi Na Nachen De
WESTERN FILM MUSIC:
The Bear Necessities (The Jungle Book)
A Tale As Old As Time (Beauty and the Beast)
Jurassic Park Theme
Turning page by Sleeping At Last (Twilight)
Schindler’s List Theme
CELTIC FOLK:
IRISH:
Danny Boy
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Drowsy Maggie
Lanigan's Ball
Red Haired Boy
The Bridal
The Peeler's Away with My Daughter
The Fox Hunter's Jig
Harvest Home
Carolan's Air
The Mason's Apron
ENGLISH:
Hunting the Hare
The Fairy Dance & Original by Ben Mowat
Morpeth Rant
Constant Billy
The Keel Roa
Country Gardens
The Staffordshire Hornpipe
The Girl I Left Behind Me
King of the Faries
The Trumpet Hornpipe
SCOTTISH:
Flower of Scotland
The Bonny Lass o' Five
Brochan Lom
Mrs Jamieson's Favourite
Lord MacDonald's Reel
The Flowers of Edinburgh
Miss Sally Hunter of Thurston
Mary, Young and Fair
The Gay Gordons
The Spey in Spate
Earl Grey
MANX:
Manx Lullaby
TANGO & MILONGA:
La Cumpasita
El Entrerriano
Por Una Cabeza
El Choclo
Comme il Faut
Hasta El Día Del Regreso
El Petirrojo
Hijo De La Luna
La Belgique
Suerte Negra
Más o Menos
Tango - Isaac Albeniz
ARGENTINE FOLK MUSIC (Chacareras, Chamamés etc):
La Alabanza
El Río Dulce
El Violín De Gaucho
La Pollona
Chamamé del Jacarandá
LATIN JAZZ:
Quizas, quizas, quizas (Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps) - Farres
Tico-tico no fuba (Bird in the cornmeal) - Abreu
Cielito lindo (Little heavenly one)
Takirari
La enganadora (The swindler) - Jorrin
El condor pasa (The flight of the condor)
La cucaracha (The cockroach)
Apanhei-te, cavaquinho (I've got you, cavaquinho) - Nazareth
Vamos pastorcitos (Come, shepherds)
Flor de Yumuri (The flower of Yumuri) - Anckermann
Estes indiferente (You are indifferent) - Veranes
La bamba
JAZZ:
Wonderful World
Autumn Leaves
I Got Rhythm
Body and Soul
Dark Eyes
The Hot Canary
How High the Moon
My Blue Heaven
Sweet Georgia Brown
This Can't Be Love
All The Things You Are
What Is This Thing Called Love
Stella By Stalight
On Green Dolphin Street
Have You Met Miss Jones
It Could Happen To You
There Will Never Be Another You
Out of Nowhere
Blue Bossa
'Round Midnight
So What
and Most Jazz Standards
RAGTIME:
The Entertainer
Maple Leaf Rag
KLEZEMER:
Hava Nagila
Congratulations to Bridegroom and Bride
Bulgar from Odessa (Odessa Bulgar)
At the Rabbi's Feast (Baym rebns sude)
Freylechs from Bukovina (Bukoviner Freylekhs)
Freylechs from Warsaw (Varshaver Freylekhs)
Leading the In-laws Home (Firn di mekhutonim aheym)
In-law's Dance (Mekhutonim Tants)
Sweet Father (Tate Ziser)
Dance of Displeasure (Broyges Tants)
Bulgar from Kishinev (Kishinever Bulgar)
Dance of Delight (Freylekh Tants)
Doyna
Street Melody (Der Gasn Nign)
The Wise Man's Song (Dem Tzadiks Zemerl)
Little Galitsian Dance (Galitsianer Tentsl)
Jewish Wedding Song (Khosn Kale Mazl Tov)
Dance Dance (Tants Yidelekh, Tants)
Avreml der Marvikher
Der Heyser Bulgar
Shalom Aleichem
Moishele Many Fraynd
Rozhinkez mit Mandlen
Firn Di Mekhutonim Aheym
Moshe's Donina
& Most other Klezmer Standards
I need a performance space of at least 1m x 2 m. I require 1 socket and a small table or chair on which to place my laptop. I need 1 parking space if possible please.
I bring my own amp, laptop, antique amplified violin.
We need to know any directions that will help us find the venue and find the right place to load in our equipment.
Yes
I have performed at many weddings, parties and celebrations. I have also performed with bands at Glastonbury Festival, Cafe Des Art Grenoble (France), many pubs and clubs, Isle of Mann TT Races.
So many, where do I start!? From David Bowie to Beyoncé, Bach to Debussy, Eliza Carthy to Leonard Cohen, Björk to Steve Reich, Hans Zimmer to the 'Stranger Things' soundtrack... I could go on and on and on....
I am a reliable and capable violinist with 31 years playing experience (since I was 7!) and over 15 years of performance experience including at weddings and events.
I love playing at all sorts of events but weddings are my favourite! The guests are always happy and it’s easy to get them dancing! :-) As well as solo, I also love playing as part of a band or ensemble.
I aim to arrive 1 hour before the performance to set up. I often perform 2 x 45 minutes or 2 x 60 minute sets, or at a wedding provide music during the ceremony followed by a 1 hour set at the reception. But the exact timings vairy for each wedding or event and I'm happy to discuss this with you.
I'm happy to play outside so long as I'm no in direct sunlight (shade preferable), there is cover if there is any risk of rain, and a power supply close to the performance area.
You can choose your set list from my list of songs and pieces, and I'm happy to learn a new song or two for you, so long as the quote reflects the work.
"I don’t think words are enough to describe how stunningly beautiful Ben plays and how his music can bring so much joy to people.
Ben was nothing but perfection from the start, friendly, helpful and so accommodating.
During our ceremony he played what was agreed and had me and my family in tears. During the reception he had my niece twirling and bouncing around.
So many guest commented on just how wonderful he was.
I can not recommend highly him enough,And can not put into works thankful I am.
You really did make it magical! "
Georgia
"Ben was awesome. Nailed everything and was super for the whole piece of our wedding. Would def recommend."
Andrew
Ben was everything we expected and more. Despite of the weather, the show went on and Ben lifted everyone’s spirits. Some of the best moments of our wedding was singing along outside under a pavilions whilst it was raining. He is a beautiful violinist, very professional and would 100% recommend to anyone. Thanks again Ben!"
Luke
- Between 1 and 3 weddings per month
- Playing in 2 bands
- Funerals
- Events
- Parties
Many wedding venues in Gloucestershire, Sommerset, Wales and other parts of England
Bristol Venues:
Bridge Farm
Strange Brew
The Canteen
Festivals:
Glastonbury Festival
Buddah Field Festival
Shambala Festival
Cafe des Art, Grenoble
Last Minute Musicians has members, our newest member is (updated ) and we've had >75,000 visitors in the last 30 days.
© 2003 - 2024 Lastminutemusicians.com Ltd, Company #06544335 registered in England & Wales.
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Cookies
Artist
