Information About Benjamin - Brentford teacher

Personal Description:

Benjamin leads a varied musical career, balancing his chamber music work and orchestral projects around his enthusiasm for coaching young musicians.

At age eight Benjamin was awarded a place as chorister at the prestigious St John’s College choir in Cambridge and subsequently toured the world and appeared as soloist on many recordings. In 2000 Benjamin won a place at Chetham’s School of Music to learn violin with Jan Repko, and then in 2005 he continued his studies at the Royal College of Music as a viola player. Whilst at the RCM Benjamin learnt with Ivo-Jan van der Werff and Jonathan Barritt and was a prize winner at the International Kenneth Page Viola Competition. He graduated with honours in 2009 and then completed his Postgraduate Degree where he studied jointly with Simon Rowland-Jones and Lawrence Power.

His quartet the ‘Alke Quartet’ was formed in 2011 and were in residence at the Royal College of Music on the Chamber Music Course from 2015-17, kindly supported by a legacy from the late Albert and Eugenie Frost. Following their highly successful Park Lane Group (PLG) audition in Spring 2015, the quartet gave the PLG’s annual performance of Haydn’s The Seven Last words from The Cross at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, performed with great success in the PLG Young Artists Spring Series in St John’s Smith Square last April and made their Wigmore Hall debut presented by the PLG in March 2017. Part of the ChamberStudio, Kings Place London, the quartet received masterclasses from Rita Wagner, Krysia Osostowicz, Simon Rowland-Jones and Richard Ireland. They were finalists in the Bloch Music Competition and St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music Competition and were accepted for the International Music Seminar Prussia Cove, working closely with the Endellion Quartet’s David Waterman. In January 2017 they participated in the Winter Residency Programme at Banff, Canada. Their performance venues include St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Smith Square, St James’s Piccadilly, Bath’s Pump Room and the Barbican Centre.

Aside from his string quartet Benjamin has performed with the Arienski Ensemble for the North Norfolk Music festival, performed Schumann’s Quintet with Raphael Wallfisch and toured Scotland with the Dulcinea quartet. Benjamin enjoys playing with his viola quartet Mit Dӓmpfer.

Benjamin joined Southbank Sinfonia in 2011 subsequently performing in many concerts both as orchestral player and as chamber musician. With Southbank Benjamin performed in the Queen Elizabeth Hall under Vladimir Ashkenazy and at the Royal Opera House and collaborated with members of Academy of St Martin-in-the-Field and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Tutoring Experience:

I have been teaching online now for a few years and I find that although that it is not an ideal environment it is something definitely worth pursuing and is very rewarding. After the online lessons I supplement them by recording the pieces, scales or technique that we have talked over in the lesson so that you can view it over the week to help with any issues. I am also available to contact over the week should you have any questions on what we have discussed! I have a very stable fast internet connection and use a good microphone for the lessons so the quality is as best as it can be. I am able to use Zoom, Skype or any other platform that you wish but I have found that Zoom works best for these lessons. I look forward to seeing you online!

I graduated from the Royal College of Music, London with a BMus Hons, in 2009 and a Postgraduate diploma in 2010. From an early age I was encouraged to study music, and my love of the Violin/Viola developed through studying with inspirational and dedicated teachers who were enthusiastic about my potential. This enabled me to further my training, and I now lead a busy and successful career. Being immersed in music and guided so diligently throughout my studies was a wonderful experience and one that I seek to replicate in my teaching.

Tutoring Approach:

I supplement my lessons with duet sessions, practise competitions, mock exams, aural training, music theory, masterclasses and games, and organise informal and formal concerts for my students. I have found these concerts to be very helpful for my students' development as they gain in experience and confidence and learn how to manage any performance anxiety over time. The student recitals are also an excellent opportunity to build and maintain good relationships with parents and guardians, as they provide a good setting to discuss each student's needs and to celebrate their achievements with family and fellow peers. To date I have had a 100% success rate in my pupils' ABRSM and Trinity/Guildhall exams, and have tutored students who achieved musical entrance scholarships to schools.