Benjamin Hopkins

Piano 

Since winning first prize in the 2007 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, Benjamin Hopkins has won numerous local, national, and international awards and has performed in Rochester, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleans, England and Italy. In 2008, as a result of winning the Rochester Philharmonic League’s Ness Award, Aldridge-Tinker Scholarship, and Special Award, he made his debut with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also been honored with first prize at the David Hochstein Recital Competition, the prestigious Howard Hanson Award, and as a finalist in the first Pittsburgh Symphony Concerto Competition. Most recently, he was nominated for the 2013 American Pianists Association Classical Fellowship Award and won the 2013 Rio Hondo Symphony Young Artist Auditions. Hopkins has played in masterclasses for many renowned pedagogues and pianists, including Menahem Pressler, Julian Martin, Frederic Chiu, and Stephen Hough. An avid chamber musician, he works closely with violinist Henry Gronnier and performs frequently as a collaborator in the Los Angeles area. After earning his Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he was named as a Keyboard Department Outstanding Graduate, he is continuing his graduate studies at USC with Lucinda Carver. His past teachers include Norman Krieger and Brian Preston.