Benjamin Larsen

Cellist Benjamin Larsen made his solo debut in 1999 at the Merryall Center for the Arts, where critic for the Danbury News Times, Frank Merkling, called him “remarkably gifted”, with “a charming, warm tone”. He has performed in various venues in the New England area, including concerto performances with the Hartford Symphony, Farmington Valley Symphony and Musica Dolce Ensemble, and solo performances in England and Hong Kong. He is an avid chamber musician, having performed with the Enao Ensemble in chamber concerts to benefit the charity, the Bishop’s Fund for Children, for over a decade. He is the cellist and a founding member of the Lorelei Piano Trio, and a member of the Opus Nine Ensemble.

Mr. Larsen has performed at summer music festivals including the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Quartet Program, Pacific Music Festival, and has won top prizes in competitions including the Musical Club of Hartford and Symphony in Simsbury. His chamber music mentors have included members of the Emerson, Tokyo, American and Keller String Quartets, as well as Robert Mann, Peter Frankl, Andre Michel Schub, and Daniel Epstein, among others. He has also had the opportunity to perform in concert with members of the Tokyo String Quartet. He has taken master classes with Bonnie Hampton, Keith Robinson and Colin Carr, and past teachers include Eric Dahlin, David Finckel, Julia Lichten and Clive Greensmith, as well as lessons with Marta Istomin.

As an orchestral musician he has performed with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, the Empire State Sinfonia, the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra, the Salome Chamber Orchestra in New York City, and the Farmington Valley Symphony, as well as the Manhattan School of Music Orchestras. Mr. Larsen holds a Bachelor and Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music, where he was the recipient of the Hans and Klara Bauer Scholarship and the Pablo Casals Award.