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Born in East-Berlin, Eva Beneke was drawn to music via her father´s guitar collection.
At age 3, to accompany her repertoire (socialist children´s songs, Beethoven chorales and the obligatory Für Elise), her parents gifted her a tiny red toy-piano.

Her music studies started with a foundation in theory and performance of classical music, complemented by weekly escapades as guitarist and song-writer for the pop/jazz band “Colores de Mellow”, a formation that survived her teenage years by a few and led to some local fame her distric of Berlin-Pankow.


Eva went on to successfully study classical guitar at the Berlin University of Arts. Lateron, the mentorship and friendship of one of Germany’s most influential guitarist, Thomas Müller-Pering, sparked a deep love for chamber-music and a fascination with higher education. During those years at the “Franz Liszt-Hochschule” in Weimar, her days consisted of 6-8 hour practice sessions, long nights of arranging art-songs by Schubert and Bach-suites to the guitar, sight-reading marathons with other musicians and the satisfaction of denying the existence of a world outside the practice-room.

When the realities of pursuing a music career outside the practice chamber finally hit home, Eva moved to Los Angeles, where she then morphed into an entrepreneurial musician. Armed with the curiosity of a child that grew up behind the Berlin wall, one suitcase, two guitars and a doctorate from the University of Southern California, she started crafting what is now a career that rests on three pillars: performance, education and entrepreneurship.


What makes this musician stand out is her openness to many art forms and pathways of music and art. Seminal musical encounters with guitarist Scott Tennant, rapper Dessa, country-singer Carrie Underwood or the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra are part of her ever-growing portfolio. A tested performer, accompanist, arranger and musical partner she nurtures her many musical interests while staying true to her instrument, the classical guitar. With four records under her belt, the latest being a NAXOS-release of 19th century Spanish music for voice and guitar (2016, with mezzo soprano Nerea Berraondo) she is an internationally sought-after chamber musician.


A passionate educator, Eva has taught music to every age-group from kindergarten to seniors, from teaching beginning guitar classes in crime-ridden South Central L.A. to installing a classical guitar program at McNallySmith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota. She now is serving as associate professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. Eva Beneke lives in Berlin with her husband, photographer Stefan Maria Rother and their families.

header photos on this website by Stefan Maria Rother (home/about/concerts/media/store) and Felix Salazar (recordings). please always credit the photographer.