(b Montreal, Dec 7, 1944). Canadian music theorist. Following baccalaureate studies in composition at McGill University, Montreal (MusBac 1965), he continued his studies in composition and music theory at Princeton University (MFA 1968; PhD 1976, with a dissertation on modular equivalence as a musical concept). He taught at Wellesley College (1970–72) and the University of Michigan (1972–6), then joined the staff of the University of British Columbia (associate professor, 1978–83; professor, 1983–; director of the School of Music, 1984–91). Benjamin has contributed significantly to a wide range of theoretical issues with published writings in the areas of tonal and atonal pitch organization, musical metre, and meta-theory. His early work, stemming from the Princeton school of the 1960s, generalizes Schenker’s concept of prolongation in ways not tied to the latter’s melodic and contrapuntal preoccupations, and adapts hierarchical thinking to early 20th century materials. In ‘Pitch-Class Counterpoint in Tonal Music’ (...