On Tuesday, March 17th, at 7:30 p.m., please join the SUU Department of Music in the Thorley Recital Hall for a Piano Recital featuring Guest Artist Benjamin David Tufte. This recital is free and open to the public. 

Benjamin David Tufte (b. 1999) takes a multi-faceted approach to music ranging from performance and composition to criticism and education. As a performer, Benjamin maintains a passion for exploring all the repertoire that the piano has to offer, with a particularly keen interest in giving light to underperformed works. Notable recent performances include cello sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven and jazz composer David Baker and a pairing of works for viola and piano by Dmitri Shostakovich and Rebecca Clarke. Taking place at the Jacobs School of Music, Benjamin has participated in concerts celebrating the 150th birthdays of modernist composers Julián Carrillo and Charles Ives and the 100th birthday of Aurelio de la Vega. Upcoming projects include a recital featuring the complete duo sonatas by Shostakovich and an album dedicated to works composed by or for the 19th century violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim with violist Ross McIntosh. As a composer, he has also received commissions from the Boston-based duo Transient Canvas and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA). The UMFA commission, titled "Two Pines. Manitou, Colorado", based on a painting of the same name by Birger Sandzén, was named a finalist in the New York City Contemporary Music Symposium’s 2021 call for scores. 

Benjamin is currently pursuing an Artist's Diploma from the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Steven Mayer. Prior to beginning his studies at DU, he completed a Performance Diploma in Piano with Jean-Louis Haguenauer and a Master’s Degree in Piano with Evelyne Brancart and André Watts at Indiana University Bloomington Jacobs School of Music. His Bachelor's Degree was completed at the University of Utah where he majored in both piano and composition studying piano with Dr. Viktor Valkov and composition Drs. Devin Maxwell, Manuela Meier, Igor Iachimciuc, and Luke Dahn, respectively. He studied with Dr. Christian Bohnenstengel and MaryAnne Anderson at Southern Utah University. Festival appearances include the Wyoming International Chamber Music Festival, Piracicaba International Piano Festival, Roundtop Festival Institute, Brevard Music Center, Curtis SummerFest, and the Helen Taylor Johannesen International Piano Festival.