معرفی
Benjamin Krause serves as Associate Professor of Music at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where he teaches composition, music theory, aural skills, piano, and jazz. He joined the Hope faculty in 2018 after teaching for three years at Valparaiso University, where he founded and directed the Valparaiso University New Music Ensemble (VUNUMU).
Dr. Krause earned his DMA in composition from Rice University (2014), MM in composition from the University of Oregon (2010), and BM in piano performance from Valparaiso University (2007). His primary composition teachers include Pierre Jalbert, Anthony Brandt, Richard Lavenda, Robert Kyr, and David Crumb.
As an award-winning composer, Krause embraces diverse musical idioms spanning traditional classical repertoire to new music and jazz. His work is characterized by visceral rhythmic drive, tight motivic control, and colorful, dense harmonies with jazz influences. He has created works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, vocalists, piano, and electronics, often exploring connections between classical forms and folk/popular sources. His recent compositions increasingly focus on propulsive and complex rhythmic textures while maintaining a sense of the mystical through lush textures and impressionistic sonority.
Krause's compositional output shows a clear evolution from more traditional forms to increasingly complex rhythmic structures, with works spanning orchestral, chamber, vocal, and solo repertoire. His music frequently draws inspiration from landscapes and environments, creating new sound worlds through the synthesis of varied musical idioms.
- Copland House Residency Award (2018-19)
- Distinguished Composer of the Year, Music Teachers National Association (2018)
- Emerging Composer Award, Houston Symphony (2016)
- Prix Marion Tournon Branly, American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, France (2012)
- Winner, Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition (2020)
- Runner-Up, RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition (2020)
As an educator, Dr. Krause has developed and taught university courses in composition, orchestration, music theory, aural skills, and jazz. He has premiered and performed over fifty new works in venues including Carnegie Hall and Houston's Zilkha Hall, while also performing works by major 20th- and 21st-century composers. As a jazz pianist, he has collaborated with notable musicians including saxophonists Woody Witt and Horace Alexander Young.
Dr. Krause maintains an active performance schedule with fellow Hope faculty members and continues to develop new compositions that explore the intersection of classical forms with contemporary rhythmic complexity and diverse musical influences.
