A native of San Francisco, Ben has been an active professional music producer, composer, band leader, vocalist, violinist, and session and concert mandolinist for nearly 20 years; based in San Francisco, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles, California. Ben is the founder of the world music ensemble KLEZMANIA! and the Luna Nova Quartet. He has also performed and toured with Modern Mandolin Quartet. His focus as an instrumentalist has been to create a unique and powerful voice for the classical and ethnic mandolin.

As a musician and bandleader, Ben seeks to surround himself with the finest of musicians, whose talent encompasses both a passionate and creative spirit. These synergistic elements are brought forth to engage the listener and delight the soul for the best in live musical performance.

Ben's musical background is in classical music where he has studied trumpet, violin, viola, piano, classical voice, composition, and mandolin. He studied violin and viola with the San Francisco Symphony's Leonid Gesin and Daniel Kobialka and holds a Bachelor's degree in viola performance and musicology from San Francisco State University. Ben is a graduate of the Master's Level program in film scoring composition at the University of Southern California. There, he studied with film composition legends Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, and David Raksin.

Ben's love for the mandolin and violin has a deep family connection along with a prolific musical heritage. His grandfather, Max Gralnick, performed on violin, viola and was "the call" for mandolin in Hollywood film sessions from the mid 1920s through the early 1980s. His grandfather's mandolin performance is featured in major Hollywood film classics such as "the Godfather I" and "the Godfather II," "Zorba the Greek," "Spartacus," and "Dr. Zhivago," to name just a few. He also played with Dean Martin with his signature mandolin solo in the recording of "That's Amore."

Ben currently enjoys teaching children and adults one on one and in classes in classical, jazz, klezmer, and Italian folk music on the mandolin, violin, viola, and voice. He teaches every week in Mill Valley at the Girotondo Italian School. www.girotondoschool.org

For more information, or further inquiries, please contact Ben directly at benb@bennybemusic.com