AN INTERVIEW WITH BENJAMIN VERDERY

Described by TheNewYorkTimes as “an iconoclastic player”, Benjamin Verdery has been hailed for his innovative and eclectic musical career. He’s been the Professor of Guitar at the Yale School of Music since 1985, and Artistic Director of 92Y Art of the Guitar series (NYC) since 2006.

As a recording artist, Verdery has released more than 15 albums. His most recent, OnVineyard

Sound (released as The Ben Verdery Guitar

Project), features him performing music composed by his colleagues at Yale, as well as one his own compositions. It was released on the ECR label, an online music platform Verdery co-curates with guitarist-songwriter Solomon Silber.

In 2020, Verdery will release a new album of his own material, as well as the debut release by Bryce Dessner’s Quintet for High Strings with the St. Lawrence Quartet.

Verdery has created and released several exquisitely filmed videos, including his ShangriLa series – filmed at Doris Duke’s Shangri La Centre for Islamic Arts & Cultures in Honolulu, Hawaii – which features Barrios Mangore, Manuel de Falla and Isaac Albeniz. His two most recent videos are for Seymour Bernstien’s “Searching For A Chorale” and Bryce Dessner’s “Portbou”.

A prolific composer in his own right, Verdery has been commissioned to compose works for a wide range of releases, events and groups, including the Pensacola Guitar Orchestra, John Williams and John Etheridge, Wake Forest University, and the score for the documentary film CoridaGoyesque.

Verdery’s Scenes from Ellis Island, for guitar orchestra, has been extensively broadcast and performed at festivals and universities in the

United States, Canada, New Zealand and Europe. The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet also included a shortened version on their release AirAndGround.