About
As a soloist, Ben has performed under conductors including Masato Suzuki, William Christie, Florian Heyerick, Václav Luks, Christian Curnyn, Andrea de Carlo, and Lionel Meunier, and with ensembles including the Netherlands Bach Society, Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, and Vox Luminis. Recent engagements include Pilatus in Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Netherlands Bach Society, a one-voice-per-part Matthew Passion with Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht and Johannes Leertouwer, and a range of other soloist roles, including Bach’s cantata ‘Schauet doch’ at Thomaskirche, Kuhnau Magnificat for Musikfest Bremen, and Bach Christmas Oratorio and Zelenka Missa Paschalis with Vox Luminis. Ben’s solo repertoire includes all of J.S. Bach’s major bass roles, as well as sacred works by Carissimi, Charpentier, Handel, Kuhnau and Monteverdi, and later works from the requiems of Mozart and Brahms through to lieder French chansons.
He regularly works with groups such as the Monteverdi Choir, Netherlands Bach Society, Vox Luminis, Oxford Bach Soloists, Les Epopées, and Accentus. Recent highlights include Charpentier David et Jonathas with Ensemble Correspondances (Opéra de Lille), and recent ensemble highlights include Monteverdi Vespers at the Royal Chapel of Versailles, Monteverdi operas at the Salzburg Festival and La Fenice, and Berlioz operas at the BBC Proms.
Ben grew up in Ohio singing and programming computers, creating award-winning language and travel apps alongside his vocal studies. His enthusiasm for under-recognized vocal music led him to create VMII, a searchable catalogue of early music. The site won the REMA New Technology Prize, with 300,000 people a year discovering new music through the site. Alongside solo and small-ensemble work, Ben is also active as a singing teacher, and welcomes enquiries from new students.
After earning his master’s from London’s Guildhall School in 2018, Ben became a Britten Pears Young Artist and was awarded the Salvat Bach Grant. He has trained with Dame Emma Kirkby, Max van Egmond, Dame Sarah Connolly, Yvonne Kenny, and Martin Katz.