Ben Powell

Biography

Ben Powell is fast assuring himself as one of the most versatile violinists of his generation. British born, he now lives in Los Angeles, California after residencies in Boston, Paris and New York. He is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music where he majored in composition and performance.

Upon hearing the playing of Stephane Grappelli in his early teens his journey into string improvisation was born. Recently, Ben has collaborated on his own recording projects with renown musicians such as vibraphonist Gary Burton, cellist Lynn Harrell and percussionist Peter Erskine. He was the featured violin soloist on the Warner Bros blockbuster ‘Dunkirk’ (2018) and ‘Batman vs Superman’ (2017), both scored by notable film composer Hans Zimmer and has worked in the recording studios of Los Angeles with artists such as Neil Young, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin and Michael Buble. His dynamic work as a violinist makes him a rare commodity in the detailed world of cinematic music. This has allows him regular opportunities to work alongside celebrated film composers such as Hans Zimmer, Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, Geoff Zanelli and Bill Ross.

A lover of the French style ‘Gypsy Jazz’, Ben recently performed the acclaimed ‘Symphonic Django’ suite as a soloist with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra joined by American guitarist John Jorgenson. An experienced performer, Ben as appeared alongside Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Gloria Estefan, Danny Elfman, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, and recently appeared as an improvising soloist with Steve Wonder at The Forum, Los Angeles.

Ben has enjoyed cameo appearances on prime time television sitcoms including The Mindy Project, New Girl and Two and a half Men. The latter saw Ben performing in a scene alongside star actors Ashton Kutcher and Jon Cryer in one of the final episodes of the show’s .

Fusing the improvising worlds with his classical pedagogy, Ben is truly a musician who transcends boundaries, not only by his own playing but by bringing together such varied musical company to join him in his creative ventures. This was most recently realized on his March 2016 release ‘The LA Sessions’. Gathering 26 of LA’s finest musicians, Ben compiled an album merging music from the worlds of Bebop, American Folk, Classical, French Musette, Film, Gypsy Jazz, Fusion, and Traditional Jazz.
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Ben plays an English violin by Alfred Vincent.