Ben Hjertmann is a Chicago-based composer, vocalist, and genre vagabond. Ben performs with the avant-folk trio, the Grant Wallace Band. He is especially interested in writing avant-pop, choral, wind ensemble and chamber music.
Hjertmann’s chamber works have been performed by the Spektral Quartet, Borromeo Quartet, Anubis Quartet, Callithumpian Consort, Other Minds Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and many others. His work has also been performed by top university wind ensembles including UT-Austin, Louisiana State, Michigan State, Central Michigan, Kansas State, Lawrence, Northwestern, U-Nebraska at Lincoln, and NYU. His music has been featured at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinics, the conference of the College Band Directors National Association, and the South by Southwest NonClassical showcase.
Ben received his Doctor of Music in Composition from Northwestern University in 2013. His dissertation research focused on microtonal harmonic structures derived from sum & difference tones and his final piece was an album of chamber-metal songs based on a fairy-tale narrative. Ben teaches composition, music technology, theory, and song writing at Northwestern University, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, and Flatts & Sharpe Music Company. Hjertmann has been a resident artist at the MacDowell Colony, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the Shell Lake Arts Center.
Ben Hjertmann, composer
April 29, 2010Ben Hjertmann is a Chicago-based composer, vocalist, and genre vagabond. Ben performs with the avant-folk trio, the Grant Wallace Band. He is especially interested in writing avant-pop, choral, wind ensemble and chamber music.
Hjertmann’s chamber works have been performed by the Spektral Quartet, Borromeo Quartet, Anubis Quartet, Callithumpian Consort, Other Minds Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and many others. His work has also been performed by top university wind ensembles including UT-Austin, Louisiana State, Michigan State, Central Michigan, Kansas State, Lawrence, Northwestern, U-Nebraska at Lincoln, and NYU. His music has been featured at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinics, the conference of the College Band Directors National Association, and the South by Southwest NonClassical showcase.
Ben received his Doctor of Music in Composition from Northwestern University in 2013. His dissertation research focused on microtonal harmonic structures derived from sum & difference tones and his final piece was an album of chamber-metal songs based on a fairy-tale narrative. Ben teaches composition, music technology, theory, and song writing at Northwestern University, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, and Flatts & Sharpe Music Company. Hjertmann has been a resident artist at the MacDowell Colony, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the Shell Lake Arts Center.