Stephen Benson
- Adjunct Professor Cali School of Music
Biography
Stephen Benson is an active and versatile presence on the New York music scene. Equally at home in jazz, classical music, rock, folk, blues, rhythm and blues, and Broadway, he has built a wide-ranging career as a performer, recording artist, and educator.
His performance and recording credits include Natalie Cole, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Phoebe Snow, John Sebastian, Take 6, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Harry Connick Jr., Fontella Bass, Sutton Foster, Jane Krakowski, and Garrison Keillor. He has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York City Ballet Orchestra, and American Symphony Orchestra.
Benson has been a regular performer at the Grand Canyon Music Festival and appeared at the Carnival of Venice with Evelyn Blakey. He toured Europe for two years as a member of the Giora Feidman Trio and completed a world tour with A Chorus Line. His recent Broadway credits include Aladdin, Chicago, On Your Feet!, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Lion King.
He was the first jazz guitar instructor at The Hartt School of Music under the direction of Jackie McLean and is currently a member of the jazz faculty at Montclair State University. He also recently led a jazz guitar workshop at the Les Paul Museum in Mahwah, New Jersey, and teaches private lessons both in person and online.
Benson lives in New York City with his wife and their twins.
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