Benjamin Verdery guitarist / composer
Verdery plays with the kind of infectious, childlike joy that lights up the whole stage… Artfile, Ottawa, Canada
an iconoclastic player…. NY Times an American original, an American master Sound Board Magazine
what’s new… November 2018 Ben traveled to Chile for a residency at the University of Chile, Santiago giving masterclasses, workshops and concerts. Ben also gave masterclasses and concert at the Guitar Festival of Belgrade (March 2019) and his Scenes from Ellis Island was presented with the festival guitar orchestra conducted by Thomas Offermann.
June 2019 Ben released his video From Aristotle with beatboxer/mix vocalist Mark Martin and Michiyaya Dance. In July at the Ottawa Chamberfest Ben gave the Canadian premiere of Bryce Dessner’s Quintet for High Strings with the St. Lawrence String Quartet. In addition to this performance Ben also presented his programs 'From Bach to Hendrix' and 'Scenes from Ellis Island: Benjamin Verdery and Company'.
At the Verona International Guitar Festival in October Ben presented a program that ranged from Bach to Bresnick, from Piccinini and Mozart to Ben’s work the rain falls equally on all things and three pieces from his Some Towns and Cities recording.
February 2020 New Focus Records released Scenes from Ellis Island, Guitar Music of Ben Verdery. The recording includes the premiere recordings of Ben’s newest compositions. A video of the recording’s title piece, Scenes from Ellis Island was released February 14, 2020 coinciding with Ben’s Yale Guitar Extravaganza February 15 and a Yale installation on Ellis Island. Guest artists on the recording are Simon Powis (guitar), Guilherme Monegatto (cello), Hawa Kasse Mady Diabate (vocals) and Mark Martin (beatboxer, mixed vocalist).
Upcoming recordings: Bryce Dessner’s Quintet for High Strings (coupled with Ben’s arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s Clarinet Sonata for guitar and string quartet).
In January 2020 Ben traveled to Australia for masterclasses and concerts at the Classical Guitar Society, Sydney Guitar Summer School and the Melbourne Guitar Festival and he will appear at the Miami Guitar Festival with guest Mark Martin February 2020. Ben will also curate a guitar series at the newly opened gallery, Fotografiska, in New York City, and returns as guest clinician and lecturer for Suzuki guitar students and teachers at the 2020 Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference in May.
(860) 567‐2500 | www.gamisimonds.com
Benjamin Verdery guitarist / composer
BIOGRAPHY
Hailed for his innovative and eclectic musical career, Benjamin Verdery tours regularly throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Asia, performing at venues and festivals including Ottawa ChamberFest, 92Y Kaufmann Auditorium, Verona Guitar Festival, Guitar Festival of Belgrade, International Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Taxco (Mexico), Theatre Carré (Amsterdam), the International Guitar Festival in Havana, Wigmore Hall (London), and Metropolitan Opera in New York.
As a recording artist, Ben has released more than 17 albums. His most recent, Scenes from Ellis Island, Guitar Music of Ben Verdery (with the premiere recordings of Ben’s newest compositions) was released by New Focus Recordings in February 2020, together with a video of the recording’s title piece, Scenes from Ellis Island. Other recordings include The Ben Verdery Guitar Project: On Vineyard Sound (ECR), featuring Ben performing music by his composer colleagues at Yale University's School of Music as well as one his own compositions; Happy Here with William Coulter; Branches, featuring works of Bach, Strauss, Jimi Hendrix, Mozart and the traditional Amazing Grace; Start Now (2005 Classical Recording Foundation Award); Some Towns & Cities (winner of Guitar Player Magazines Best Classical Guitar Recording 1991) and collaborations with John Williams (John Williams Plays Vivaldi) and Andy Summers (First You Build a Cloud). Upcoming recordings include Bryce Dessner’s Quintet for High Strings (coupled with Ben’s arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s Clarinet Sonata for guitar and string quartet).
Ben has created and released several exquisitely filmed videos, most recently From Aristotle with Mark Martin and Michiyaya Dance, Bryce Dessner’s Portbou, Purple Haze and Seymour Bernstien’s Searching for a Chorale. Other videos include his Shangri La Series, filmed at Doris Duke's Shangri La Center for Islamic Arts & Cultures Honolulu, HI featuring Barrios Mangore, Manuel de Falla and Isaac Albeniz, J.S. Bach's Chaconne entitled An interpretation celebrating the Earth, Ocean and Sky and four videos with hip-hop artist Billy Dean Thomas including the ground breaking Black Bach.
Many of the leading composers of our time have created music for Ben, including Ezra Laderman, Daniel Asia, Martin Bresnick, Bryce Dessner, Javier Farias, Aaron Kernis, John Anthony Lennon, David Leisner, Hannah Lash, Ingram Marshall, Anthony Newman, Roberto Sierra, Van Stiefel, Christopher Theofanitis, and Jack Vees. Of particular note was the commission by the Yale University Music Library of Ingram Marshall’s Dark Florescence for classical and electric guitars. Ben Verdery and Andy Summers premiered this work at Carnegie Hall with the American Composers Orchestra.
Ben has recorded and/or performed with such diverse artists as Andy Summers, Frederic Hand, William Coulter, Leo Kottke, Anthony Newman, Jessye Norman, Paco Peña, Hermann Prey, John Williams, hip-hop artist Billy Dean Thomas, beat box/vocal percussionist Marc Martin and Nano Stern.
A prolific, published composer in his own right, many of Ben’s compositions have been performed, recorded and published over the years. He has been commissioned to compose works for The Assad Duo, guitarists David Russell, Scott Tennant, David Tanenbaum, John Williams and John Etheridge, The Changsha International Guitar Festival, The Chilean Guitar Ensemble, the Pensacola Guitar Orchestra (FL), Kyo-Shin-An Arts (NY), Wake Forest University, Thomas Offermann and the guitar ensemble of the Hochschule for Music and Theatre (Rostock, Germany) and the score for the documentary film Corida Goyesque. Ben’s Scenes from Ellis Island, for guitar orchestra, has been extensively broadcast and performed at festivals and universities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Europe, and the
…/2
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet included it on their CD, Air and Ground (Sony Classical). Doberman-Yppan (Canada) currently publishes his solo and duo works for guitar and Alfred Music distributes the solo pieces from Some Towns & Cities as well as instructional books and video. Other compositions are available at Ben’s web site.
Since 1985 Ben has been guitar professor at the Yale School of Music, Artistic Director of 92Y’s Art of the Guitar series since 2007 and Producer of his Maui Summer Master Class since 1999. Ben is also an Honorary Board Member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
Benjamin Verdery uses D'Addario strings and guitars by Garrett Lee and Otto Vowinkel.
Web links: www.benjaminverdery.com https://www.facebook.com/benjamin.verdery?fref=ts https://www.instagram.com/benverdery/ https://twitter.com/benverdery http://www.gamisimonds.com/verdery
(January 2020. Please discard any previously dated materials.)
(860) 567‐2500 | www.gamisimonds.com