Ben Cantrell

Assistant Professor, Percussion
Area(s): Percussion, Jazz, Commercial Music and Private Applied

EDUCATION

• D.M.A., University of North Carolina-Greensboro
• M.M., Radford University
• B.M.E., Morehead State University

Profile

Dr. Ben Cantrell serves as Assistant Professor of Percussion at Morehead State University where he, along with his fellow percussion faculty, teaches private lessons, percussion ensemble, steel band, and the marching percussion ensemble. 

For the last 20 years, Ben has been a performer, adjudicator, clinician, and educator in our region and beyond. As a performer, he has played with numerous ensembles across the U.S. as well as multi-city tours in Europe and Asia. Ben is currently a performing member of the Johnson City Orchestra in Tennessee and Sacred Winds of Pikeville, Kentucky. Previously, he has performed in the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Winston-Salem Symphony, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the Piedmont Triad Jazz Ensemble, Jenny Wiley Theatre, and Barter Theatre of Abingdon, VA. Other notable performances include those at the Virginia Day of Percussion, North Carolina Day of Percussion, and the Jazz Educator's Network.

 As an educator at the University level, Ben has previously been a faculty member at Winthrop University, Elon University, Concord University, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. Before teaching college, Ben taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels of the public school system. He continues to be very active with high school marching bands throughout Kentucky. Along with his current duties at MSU, Ben also teaches drumset and percussion at the Mountain Arts Center of Prestonsburg, KY.

As a member of the Percussive Arts Society, Ben serves on their Health and Wellness Committee and reviews new literature for their official journal, Percussive Notes. Ben is an educational artist for Mapex Drums, Majestic Percussion, Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets, Black Swamp Percussion, and Zildjian Cymbals.