As a full-time professional musician, I am constantly involved in a diverse array of musical activities. Here is what I have been up to in some of my various roles:

Performing:

7/10/24 Update - During the summers I get a break from my choral accompanying work; this year I'm taking advantage of the extra free time by composing new material for my jazz quartet ('Ben Milstein and Friends'). I'm looking forward to performing some of these tunes with the group when we return to performing in the early Fall. Stay tuned for dates and times!

4/06/24 Update - My jazz quartet 'Ben Milstein and Friends' will be doing a free all-ages show at the Chill n Fill beer bar/food cart pod in North Portland on Friday, 4/26 from 7-9pm.

We are also returning to the Canary in North Portland on Saturday, May 11 from 7-10pm. Also a free show but it is a 21+ venue.



2/20/24 Update - I will be returning to the Canary in North Portland on Saturday, March 16 from 7-10pm with my jazz quartet 'Ben Milstein and Friends'.

The following weekend, I'll be accompanying Satori Men's Chorus for their Spring concert at Unity Church in SE Portland on Saturday, March 23 at 7:00.



Piano Teaching:

7/10/24 Update - At this point I am still doing about half my teaching online and the rest in-person at my studio in North Portland. My studio is now about half adults and half youngsters and I'm really enjoying the variety of different challenges involved with teaching people of very different experiences and ages.

Starting in March of 2020, almost all of my teaching has migrated to a ‘virtual’ format, using Zoom/FaceTime/Skype to teach remotely for (hopefully) obvious reasons. Teaching via internet has raised some interesting challenges but overall has been far more effective than I initially thought possible. It has also created opportunities that weren’t possible before - aside from being to teach in my pajamas and always having a hot mug of herbal tea at hand, I’ve been able to take on non-local students and extend my musical community into the wider world. I have since returned to teaching in-person at my studio in North Portland but still offer the option of online lessons.

Choral Accompanying:

7/10/24 Update - The 2023/24 concert season was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to picking it back up this fall with Satori Men's Chorus and the West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Choristers. My first choral performance of the season will be with Satori; we are performing at the Vancouver Peace and Justice Fair on Saturday, September 14th.

After 18 months of ‘virtual’ choir rehearsals, it was a real treat to move back to in-person (masked) rehearsals with two of my regular choirs in the fall of 2022. We have been able to hit the ground running because both groups continued regular online meetings since March 2020. During that time, both groups were able to complete a number of recording projects through the magic of technology. I pre-recorded piano accompaniments, sent them to the singers, and each singer recorded their own part at home, then sent them back to me. I was able to then synchronize and blend each part along with the accompaniment to create a finished product worthy of YouTube. It was a big challenge for the singers to record this way and I’m happy with how well the results turned out.

This season (2023-24) I am continuing to accompany both Satori Men's Chorus and the West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Choristers.

Audio Engineering:

7/10/24 Update - I was able to work on some great projects by local and non-local artists this year. The vast majority of my mixing and mastering work has been in the electronic music realm; it has been gratifying to continue to hone my skills in that area and work with artists to bring out the full potential of their music. You can find out more about my engineering work over at my other website.

I’ve been slowly expanding my clientele and enjoying working with a diverse array of styles. Please head over to my new website to check out some of my recent work. In addition to multi-track mixing, I have been training to include audio mastering in my array of services. As a limited time offer, I will master one song at no charge for any new client.