Classical Piano with Ben R.

My name is Ben, and I am a full-time performing jazz pianist and accordionist based in New York City (you can learn more about my music career in my professional bio, which is included below). I have been teaching for ten years in just about every setting (from classroom to private, young to old, jazz and classical). I love teaching because I love learning how to communicate and connect with people of all different backgrounds and learning styles, and I enjoy sharing the journey of music with others and coming to understand what music means to them. Every person has a different goal, and if I can help people learn how to take manageable steps towards that goal every day, I feel I have succeeded. Hope to meet you soon! Professional Bio: Ben is a jazz pianist, accordionist and composer based in New York City, and a graduate of the exchange program between Columbia University and Juilliard School of Music. His work has garnered numerous awards, including the ASCAP Young Jazz Composers award in 2010 (and an honorable mention in 2018), the Downbeat Student Music Award for Best Original Song in 2010, and the Downbeat Student Music Award for Best Arrangement in 2011. Ben has played with the Bachiana Brasileira Orchestra at Lincoln Center (conducted by Joao Carlos Martins and featuring Dave Brubeck), as well as in Delhi, India, and at the Masten Jazz Festival (Buffalo), Richmond Jazz Festival (Richmond), Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival (Maryland) and Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival (Manhattan). He has also performed at Carnegie Hall, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, the Allen Room at Lincoln Center, Ryles Jazz Club, Webster Hall, Symphony Space, The Blue Note and a host of other locations throughout the northeast. Ben has worked extensively with such jazz luminaries as Curtis Lundy, Neal Smith, Winard Harper, Wayne Escoffery and Deborah Davis, and he has shared the stage with Houston Person, Jerry Dodgion, Warren Wolf, Eliot Zigmund and many more. Recently, Ben was a finalist at the 2015 American Jazz Pianist Competition in Melbourne, Florida, and at the 2016 Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition in Jacksonville, Florida. Ben is the founder of the Columbia Jazz House, a student-run jazz advocacy group at Columbia University that promotes jazz on campus through concerts, educational workshops and jam sessions. On December 28th, 2015, the Columbia Jazz House was featured in a New York Times article called "Melodies Night and Day in This Columbia Dorm."