Benjamin Rybolt, Classical Guitarist

Benjamin Rybolt has shared his passion for the guitar through numerous performances and teaching opportunities. He has concertized around New York State including the Classical Guitar Society of Upstate New York, the Lake George Music Festival and the Rantucci Guitar Festival & Competition, where he also served as a judge for two youth division competitions.

Ben began his guitar education as a student of Dr. Timothy Shannon. During this time, he also studied jazz and improvisation with guitarist Bob Sneider at the Eastman School of Music. In May of 2013, he completed a BM in Music Education and Guitar Performance at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, as a student of Dr. Douglas Rubio.

In the summer of 2012, Ben had the opportunity to perform at the Lake George Music Festival alongside friend and fellow guitarist Christopher Gotzen-Berg. The following fall, Ben taught at Brockport High School teaching instrumental music including woodwind, brass and percussion lessons, in addition to jazz ensemble and African drumming. Immediately following, he taught at Newark Kelley Elementary School working with first and second year instrumental students.

While at Potsdam, Ben received the Warren Earl Hultberg Scholarship, the Kenneth C. Cottrell Scholarship for outstanding achievement in performance, and the Robert Bailey Continuing Education Scholarship. He also performed in numerous master classes including those with Stephan Aron, Matthew Dunne, Oren Fader, William Kanengiser, Johannes Möller and Bucky Pizzarelli. This past April, Ben played alongside many other guitarists in two performances of ‘Shiki: Seasons of Japan’ by Shingo Fuji, with the Grammy Award winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

Always looking for diverse performance opportunities, Ben is an active chamber musician. This August, he will also be performing in a production of ‘35mm’ with the Cobblestone Community Theatre. Previously, he has performed in productions of ‘Anything Goes,’ ‘Crazy For You,’ ‘The Last Five Years,’ ‘Once Upon A Mattress’ and ‘tick, tick...Boom!’