Biography

    Ben Stepner, from Newton, Massachusetts, graduated cum laude from Milton Academy in 2006 and is currently enrolled in the New England Conservatory's jazz studies program. A 20 year old pianist and composer, he began playing piano at age 6, and began studying jazz at age 8, playing in an ensemble coached by trumpeter Phil Grenadier. At age 13 he opened for Danilo Perez at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

    Ben has studied jazz improvisation and composition privately with Joe Morris, Danilo Perez, Frank Carlberg, Kyle Aho, and Ran Blake. In 2004 and 2006, Ben performed at the Berklee College of Music's Annual High School Jazz Festival, and both times won a Superior Musicianship Award. In 2007, he founded Pure Potentiality Records.

    Ben has played concerts at Boston venues such as the Berklee Performance Center, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Regattabar, as well as the International Jazz Educators Conference in New York City. He has toured South Africa twice with the Milton Academy Jazz Combos, performing in both townships and major cities.