Benjamin Bierman is a composer, trumpet player, educator, arranger, producer, and bandleader. He has a very wide range of musical experiences and an eclectic aesthetic sensibility to match. As a composer, his works have been performed both nationally and internationally. His works have been performed by, among others, Cygnus Ensemble, 60x60 Project, Anderson/Fader guitar duo, The New York Victorian Consort (he is their resident arranger), and the CUNY Graduate Center Contemporary Music Ensemble. Ben was the Composer-in-Residence for the Goliard Ensemble, and his orchestral work, Proximities, was conferred the status of special recognition by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in their Synergy Project competition. Bierman is the recipient of the Rosa Riegelman award for Music Scholarship, as well as the Institute for Studies in American Music Award in Composition, and was awarded an Elebash Dissertation Fellowship. He just completed a recording of his recent song cycle, Beyond Romance, for soprano, tenor, and piano, with lyrics by Earl Shuman.
As a trumpet player he has performed and recorded with such diverse artists as B.B. King, Archie Shepp, Machito, Ray Barretto, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Johnny Copeland, Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughn, James Cotton, and Butch Morris.
Ben has a Ph.D. in composition from The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and has studied composition with Tania León, David Del Tredici. and John Corigliano. His dissertation, “The Music of George Handy,” was recently nominated for the Barry Brook Dissertation Award, and Bierman has been regularly speaking and writing on Handy’s work. He has taught at Baruch College and Queensborough Community College, and is currently teaching at Brooklyn College, where he is also the Deputy for Graduate Studies. Ben resides in Brooklyn with his wife and three sons. He loves being outdoors, and cannot resist a great groove.