Piano with Benjamin D.

With a heart for reaching others through the art of music, pianist Benjamin D. is a dedicated musician, performing artist, and pedagogue. Having studied the piano for over two-thirds of his life, Benjamin continues to cultivate the passion that he received from his many teachers and endeavors to communicate the vibrancy of music to his audiences and students. At the University of Kansas under the guidance of the chair of piano Dr. Jack Winerock, Benjamin won many piano competitions and awards, culminating in the 2018 Presser Scholar Award and Scholarship granted by the KU School of Music faculty for outstanding achievement in music and academics. As a freshman, he performed twice with the KC Symphony and conductor Michael Stern at the Kauffman Center for the Arts. In 2017, he won the grand prize at the national Naftzger Young Artists Audition as well as joint first prize in the KU Concerto Competition, performing with conductor Jung-Ho Pak and the KU Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, he was the grand prize winner of the 2020 National MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition, presenting a virtual recital as part of the annual national conference. Benjamin has participated in masterclasses and lessons with highly acclaimed artists such as Leon Fleisher, Yo-Yo Ma, Julian Martin, Tang Zhe, Martin Katz, Robert McDonald, Jon Nakamatsu, Boris Slutsky, Matti Raekallio, Yong-Hi Moon and many others. In the summer of 2018, he attended the Chautauqua Piano Festival held at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, and in the summer of 2019, he attended the Art of the Piano festival in Cincinnati as well as the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine as part of their highly esteemed Piano Fellowship Program, both with full scholarship. As a performer, Benjamin has been highly active both in solo and collaborative performances throughout the United States, especially in Pennsylvania, Kansas, New York, and Maine. Recently, Benjamin performed alongside Emmanuel Ax as part of the Lincoln Center’s Restart Stages, a performance initiative to revivify the live performing arts in NYC following the worst of the pandemic. The pandemic has given Benjamin a great deal of time to focus on what he loves: learning new repertoire, reading great literature, and cooking authentic Chinese recipes. He is currently pursuing his Masters Degree at The Juilliard School studying under Mr. Julian Martin.