Photo by Alex Reneff-Olson

Photo by Alex Reneff-Olson

Ben Paysen, percussion

Ben Paysen is a professional musician specializing in percussion performance and composition. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and has played throughout the country and in Europe. Ben is the formal principal timpanist of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut, and has performed with many of the professional orchestras in the SF bay area including the San Francisco Symphony. In the new music scene he has premiered works by many notable composers including Frederic Rzewski and Augusta Read Thomas and has performed with groups such as SO percussion and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players.

Ben has guest lectured and taught clinics on the collegiate level at institutions such as Rutgers University, CSU Sacramento, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and has an extensive background teaching publicly and privately at every level. Currently, Ben is teaching at Skyline College and has taught for the Keep Music Rockin' Foundation teaching over 100 students in the in the Bay Area.

Presently, Ben is finishing up his DMA from Rutgers University. He holds a Masters and Bachelors in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has studied from some of the most prestigious classical musicians in the country, including Tim Genis -principal timpanist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, David Herbert -principal timpanist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jack VanGeem -mallet virtuoso and former principal percussionist of the San Francisco Symphony, and Markus Rhoten -principal timpanist of the New York Philharmonic.

Learn more at www.benpaysen.com.