Ben Duinker
Ben Duinker est un percussionniste/marimbiste résidant à Montréal. En 2009, il a gagné le premier prix du Concours OSM Standard Life, de Concerto de l’Université McGill, et du Concours de Musique du Canada. De plus, il a été demi-finaliste dans le Concours International de Marimba à Salzburg à l’été 2009. En novembre prochain, il participera à la finale du Concours International de PASIC <
Ben poursuit actuellement une Maîtrise en Percussion et une Maîtrise en Théorie de la Musique à l’Université McGill. Il est un boursier de Schulich et a reçu une bourse d’Etudes Supérieures du Canada par le CRSH. Il étudie présentement la percussion avec Aiyun Huang et Fabrice Marandola, et a reçu des cours de maitres avec Keiko Abe et Evelyn Glennie. Pendant les deux derniers étés Ben à voyager en Europe pour des stages de perfectionnement avec Bogdan Bacanu et Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic.
Dans le domaine de la recherche en musique, Ben s’intéresse au rapport entre l’analyse de la musique et la mémorisation, et les questions de configuration des instruments de percussions en rapport avec les systèmes de notation. Ben est aussi chanteur choral; il est présentement Ténor solo à l’Église de St. Andrew and St. Paul à Montréal.
Born in Halifax, NS, Ben Duinker is a dynamic and versatile musician who divides his performing efforts equally between solo percussion, marimba, and chamber music. He was a multiple prizewinner in the 2009 OSM standard life competition, including a 1st prize for percussion. Ben was also a laureate of three other competitions in 2009 (McGill Concerto Competition, Canadian Music Competition, and the PASIC Solo Percussion Competition in Indianapolis), and was a semi finalist in the 2009 Salzburg International Marimba Competition. In addition to his competition pursuits, Ben recently presented several solo recitals in Canada and Switzerland and gave a concerto performance with the Orchestre Francophonie Canadienne.
As a chamber musician Ben has worked and performed with such artists as Aiyun Huang, Steve Schick, Bob Becker, Simon Docking, and was a recent guest artist with Ensemble KORE in Montreal. In addition he has performed chamber music in festivals such as The Banff Summer Arts Festival, Cool Drummings International Festival, and the Scotia Festival of Music. He also recently took part in the inaugural ‘Roots and Rhizomes’ Percussion Residency at the Banff Centre, under the direction of Steven Schick.
Ben is pursuing simultaneous Master’s degrees in Solo Percussion and Music Theory at McGill University, where he is a Schulich Scholar and recipient of a SSHRC Canada Graduate Fellowship. He studies with Aiyun Huang and Fabrice Marandola, and has recently performed in master classes with Keiko Abe and Evelyn Glennie. During the past two summers Ben has travelled to Europe for additional studies with marimba virtuosi Bogdan Bacanu and Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic, and did so with support from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust and the McGill Austrian Society.
In the domain of music research, Ben’s current interests include the study of relationships between score analysis and memorization/learning, and the level of agreement between notation systems and instrument configuration in percussion music. Aside from his pursuits as a percussionist/theorist, Ben is active as a choral singer, currently as Tenor Section Leader at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal.
