Benjamin Boren, musician and native of Noblesville, Ind., performed for students as part of the Ogle Center’s Discovery Series.
Boren’s performance concentrated on the music of Australian composer, Carl Vine, who wrote music for the closing ceremonies’ “Sydney 2000” presentation during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Boren said he enjoys playing in Indiana because he is at-home here.
“To be honest, I grew up here, but I have yet to leave,” Boren said. “I play in a lot of places, but I still live in Indiana, and it’s always nice for the audiences to know I’m from Indiana.”
Boren began playing piano when he was 6 years old and later gave his first solo recital performance at age 12.
Since then, he has performed at many venues across the United States and performed with many noted musicians, including Gilbert
Kalish, James Tocco and Jerome Lowenthal.
Boren has achieved many honors during his career. He graduated magna cum laude from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has won the IU Travel Grant Competition twice.
After pursuing his master’s degree at IU Bloomington, Boren became an associate instructor of piano for six years at the university.
While he credits his success in part to William Black and Evelyne Brancart, it is his mentor, Andre Watts, who Boren speaks most fondly of, and it is Watts who gave Boren his favorite piece of advice.
“[Watts] told me there’s always somebody better and somebody worse,” Boren said. “It doesn’t matter how well you play or how badly you play. Somebody’s done it better and somebody’s done it worse, so make sure you’re out there playing for you.”
Being able to study with Watts was a childhood dream for Boren.
“He was my idol before I met him since I was 8,” Boren said.
Danna Meunier, 42 of Greenville, Ind., brought her daughters Mekenna, 10, and Maren, 11, to see Boren’s performance.
“We have season tickets to the [Discovery] Series,” Meunier said. “We had a good time. We had not heard of [Boren]
before.”
Boren said he plays piano because he loves it, and it makes him feel better when he has had an emotional day, and, depending how he feels, the music can sound different each time he performs the piece.
“If I’m in a bad mood, it might be a dirtier sound — more gritty,” Boren said.
By LESLIE RADCLIFF
Photo Editor
radclifl@umail.iu.edu