Student 2020 Class > Benjamin Turner
Benjamin Turner
Ben, a graduate of the Boyer College of Music at Temple University, is a guitarist, composer, and educator based in the Philadelphia area where he maintains a busy schedule as a leader, sideman, and teacher.
He has studied with Peter Bernstein, Jesse Van Ruller, Bobby Broom, Terell Stafford, Tim Warfield, Dick Oatts, Dave Wong, among others.
Ben has played with musicians such as Byron Landham, Mike Boone, Behn Gillece, Justin Faulkner, Jasper Blom, and more. He has also performed at venues including The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, the Kimmel Center, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, as well as clubs around Philadelphia.
Ben was one of two guitarists accepted into the 2018 class of Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Most recently, he was selected for the 2020 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Jazz Orchestra, which performed at the 2020 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival.
Ben received an award in Downbeat magazine for outstanding performance (undergaduate college) as part of the 2020 Downbeat Student Music Awards.
He has also worked as a teaching assistant for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy and the COTA Jazz Camp.