Patrick Behnke is a violist, composer, improviser, and multi-media artist born in San Bernardino, California and raised in the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan area. Behnke holds a Master’s degree from the California Institute of the Arts where he studied composition with Eyvind Kang and Vinny Golia, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, where he studied viola with Rebecca Albers and David Holland. Currently living near Los Angeles, Behnke regularly performs with a community of composers and improvisers both in Los Angeles and Detroit, and is an active member of the new music ensemble the Desert Quill Quartet and the koto-centered Pashan ensemble.

Behnke’s compositions have been performed by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, at Trinosophes in Detroit, and at The Zebulon Cafe in Los Angeles.