About Me
Benjamin Whiting was born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois on August 21st, 1986. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Colorado where he was raised in Boulder. At a very young age, Ben knew that he wanted to play the sax. He got his hands on one for the first time at age 11 and immediately fell in love with it. A few weeks after starting to play in middle school, he saw an old, dusty baritone sax sitting in the corner and decided that he wanted nothing else. Since then he has avidly pursued a career playing the baritone sax.Throughout the first part of his musical education, he received numerous awards for improvisation and leadership, including the esteemed John Phillip Sousa award. After graduating from Boulder High School in 2004, he discovered the Berklee College of Music and attended its 5-week summer performance program. Ben was immediately sure that Berklee was the place that he wanted to study. At the end of the program Ben was awarded one of Berklee's prestigious scholarships, and in the spring of 2007 he returned eager to pursue a degree in performance.Ben’s musicianship continues to grow every semester at Berklee. He has made it onto Berklee's busy scene and has played and performed with a variety of respected musicians both at Berklee and in the greater Boston-area. He has played, performed, or studied with musical greats such as Dino Govoni, Mitch Haupers, Dave Howard, Joe Lovano, Greg Osby, Bob Pilkington, Ed Saindon, Jackson Shultz, Frank Tiberi, and Weezer to name a few. He is currently performing in the Berklee Rainbow Band under the direction of Phil Wilson as well as the Urban Outreach Big band, directed by Lin Biviano. He also plays gigs on a regular basis as a freelance musician. Ben relishes the opportunity to study at such an esteemed institution as Berklee, and looks forward to the music that is yet to come.
