Ben Krabill

This has been an exciting spring for PTHS Senior Ben Krabill, percussionist. In February Ben competed in the WMEA District Solo and Ensemble Contest in Port Angeles and qualified for the State Finals in all three classes he entered – Snare Drum, Timpani, and Mallets. Two weeks after this competition, Ben was featured as a guest soloist with the Port Townsend Community Orchestra in a performance of the Paul Creston Concertino for Marimba.

During Spring Break, Ben traveled to New York City where he attended a chamber music concert which featured some principal players of the New York Philharmonic. He met the principal percussionist, Chris Lamb, and principal timpanist, Markus Rhoten. Ben then went by train to Rochester, home of the Eastman School of Music. He met and played for John Beck, who has been professor of percussion at Eastman for several decades! Following that, Ben traveled again by train to Philadelphia. He was invited to attend a rehearsal of the Philadelphia Orchestra, had lunch with principal timpanist, Don Liuzzi, and talked with the rest of the Philadelphia percussion section. For that evening’s concert he had a front row seat in the “Conductor’s Circle”, overlooking the stage directly above the percussionists.

Upon his return to Port Townsend, Ben continued to prepare for the State Solo Contest, and on April 26 competed at Central Washington University, winning two medals – third place in Snare Drum and 2nd place in Mallets. Last year Ben also won 2nd place in Mallets at State.

Last weekend Ben traveled again to the East Coast. He had entered a concerto contest sponsored by the US Army Orchestra in Washington DC and was named Honorable Mention. As such he was invited to play in the percussion section of the orchestra for a concert on Sunday, May 4 at the University of Maryland.

During Ben’s time in DC he had two days off between rehearsal and concert, so he again took the train to Philadelphia. He went to the Curtis Institute of Music and had a lesson on timpani with Don Liuzzi. Mr. Liuzzi rode on the regional rail train with Ben to the home of Chris Deviney, principal percussionist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where Ben had a lesson on snare drum and marimba. Later that evening he attended a performance of Mahler’s Symphony # 8, aptly nicknamed “Symphony of a Thousand”. The Philadelphia Orchestra was joined by three choirs and eight vocal soloists for this performance. It was Ben’s most amazing musical experience so far!

Ben typically practices about three hours a day. He drives to Seattle for lessons with Katie Hurst, his teacher for the past two years, and more recently with Michael Crusoe, timpanist with the Seattle Symphony.

In addition to his music studies and practice, Ben continues to play on the PTHS Golf team. The day after the May 4 concert in Maryland, Ben had to take an early flight back to Seattle. His van was parked at the airport with his golf clubs in it, and he had very little time to drive to the Sub-District golf tournament. He arrived with a few minutes to spare before his tee time, and in spite of little sleep and severe jet lag, Ben won the tournament!

Ben has been awarded a music scholarship to the University of Washington School of Music where he plans to major in percussion with an emphasis in timpani. As part of his Senior Project, Ben’s Senior Presentation will be a recital with a demonstration of many percussion instruments. This will be held in the PTHS Auditorium on Tuesday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m.