Rays of pale red and blue light filter through the room and onto the audience’s faces. The sounds of murmurs and hushed conversations sweep throughout the crowd. On the stage, the band untangles the wires of their instruments. The crowd quiets as the band begins to play. At the forefront of this scene is Sylvie Benson ’25, a singer-songwriter and guitarist who has made a major mark on campus music during her four years at the College.
At her final recital at Sawtooth Kitchen, Bar and Stage on May 22, Benson performed an hour and a half of original music. It was a culmination of her career as a student of music at Dartmouth, as well as a well-known performer. The songs were ethereal and bewitching — but also showcased Benson’s musical skill.
“Writing this music is a way of grounding myself,” she said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Benson has spent her time at Dartmouth playing her own unique blend of indie rock and jazz, “infused with improvisational Celtic vocalization.” She has played in a number of bands, including indie cover band Pegasus and girl group Minx.
“I felt she has this kind of like siren quality with her voice,” Minx bandmate and pianist Amethyst McKenzie ’25 said. “She doesn’t even need words.”
After graduation, Benson will move to Ireland to work for a reforestation organization and continue to make music. She will record audio of forest sites and work them into her compositions, she said.
Despite Benson’s success, Dartmouth’s male-dominated band scene and the pressure to play popular music posed difficulties for her finding her way as a musician at the College.
“Musicians feel like they have to pander to the top 40 of what’s trendy instead of pursuing what they’re genuinely excited about,” Benson said.
Part of breaking free from the mold at Dartmouth was founding the band Minx, which played largely indie music. It became a creative hub for female musicians on campus.
“She learned from her past band experiences,” McKenzie said. “She was able to curate a group [in which] everyone just wanted to play, like crazy, funky music that’s not really traditional — and not something you really hear — and is a bit more technically difficult.”
Benson’s Pegasus bandmate Grant Foley ’25 said Benson has always pursued her unique sound.
“It was hard for her in this cover band culture at Dartmouth,” Foley said. “She went off and found better ways to sort of develop an artistic voice of creating, rather than just playing [covers].”
Music has always been an important part of Benson’s life — and her parents were a big influence. She said that she grew up listening to the Celtic music and 60s, 70s, psychedelic rock that still shapes her sound.
Her childhood setting of Northern California also informed her artistry. Benson recalled running through redwood forests as a child and making up songs.
“Growing up in the redwoods, I just had developed such a close relationship with the forest and the ocean, and saw the incredible benefits that it brings to both those ecosystems and the humans who live in them, to really open yourself and connect and give,” she said.
Her songs often explicitly center environmentalism. Her top song, “The Doe,” is about habitat fragmentation and how industrialization impacts wildlife. The song describes a mother deer who is searching tirelessly for her fawn — and finds her killed by a car.
“Can you tell me where you are/only then can I stop running/I reach the road/that cuts through the grove/but it’s too late/She’s met her fate/sprawled on the tar/I watch the car/run on and on,” she sings, with a gentle lilting and metronomic tambourine.
Still, Benson emphasized that her music is up for interpretation by each listener.
“I don’t hold an expectation for anyone to interpret my music in one certain way,” she said. “I welcome any interpretation of my work. As long as it’s something that connects with someone, it’s okay with me.”
Benson said that she found herself at Dartmouth through exploration of her musical projects. She formed a stage presence that was not a separate persona, but rather a natural extension of her individuality.
After Benson’s release of EP “The Source” last July, she is still making music. But soon, it will be from the green hills of Ireland, not the White Mountains of the Upper Valley.
“I hope to have shown the people who are still here that it is possible to create your own path,” Benson said. “It’s hard, but it feels so good to be making work and performing music that feels true to who you are.”
