About Ben
Benjamin K. Piette (b. 1999) is a performer, composer, educator, and audio engineer, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He holds a B.F.A. in Music Composition and Technology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. There, he co-founded I/O Composition Collective, which served as a community and platform bridging the social gaps between composers, performers, and audio engineers within the Peck School of the Arts. He served as their first president. Currently, he sits on the Board of Directors for Civic Music Milwaukee, an organization supporting and advancing music education throughout the community, especially to youth who otherwise would not have access to musical training.
Ben is an active performer and playing percussion - primarily drum set - in rock clubs, jazz bars, and concert halls has made him adaptable to many musical situations and styles. He plays and has played with artists such as Mark Davis, Augie Haas, Jeff Hamann, Clay Schaub, alt-rock band CREDENTIALS?, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee pop ensemble, Carroll University’s choirs, pop band Hewitt., and fusion band Pretendacle, to name a few.
Ben has been involved in many recording and mixing projects with artists such as Sycamore, Hewitt., Peggy Otwell, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Jazz and Afro-Cuban Orchestras, not to mention a countless number of his own compositions.
Ben is also regularly involved in live audio event production, with experience doing monitor, front-of-house, and live stream mixes, as well as routing and mixing corporate audio for presentations, panel discussions, board meetings, etc.
As a teacher, Ben’s philosophy is simple: practicing and playing music with others is an extremely rewarding process. He has experience teaching music theory and performance to students of various ages and skill levels in both group and one-on-one settings. His teaching approach emphasizes technical skills and understanding the music while exploring creative expression, hopefully having fun all the while. Ben has designed and implemented curricula meant to inspire, motivate, and challenge students. His students have learned new pieces, performed publicly, and taken college auditions.