Benjamin Webster is a composer whose music delicately explores the beauty, fragility, and ephemerality of sound and gesture. His work often constructs expansive musical narratives from simple materials shaped by instrumental timbre and performance technique. Webster’s music has been performed by ensembles such as the Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Lyris Quartet, Yale Philharmonia, Transient Canvas, and the Passepartout Duo. His compositions have been featured at festivals and programs including the Lake George Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Norfolk New Music Workshop, Alba Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and the Ciclo de Música Contemporánea de Oviedo in Spain. He holds degrees in composition from the University of Miami and the University of Southern California, and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Music. Webster was a participant in the Minnesota Orchestra's 2025 Composer Institute, and he was recently selected for a Copland House CULTIVATE Fellowship.
At MacDowell, Webster completed two works. The first, a solo piano work for pianist Lyndon Ji, which was then premiered in March 2026 at the Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation in New York. The second, a duo for violin and piano, was premiered by Duo Gemini in Montreal, QC in April 2026.
