Ben Newman is a performer, educator, and researcher based in Columbus, Ohio. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Instrumental Music Education and Oboe Performance, with minors in Bassoon and Saxophone, and is pursuing a master’s in Oboe Performance at The Ohio State University. There, he serves as principal oboist of the Wind Symphony, plays in the Symphony Orchestra and chamber ensembles, and works as the Oboe Graduate Teaching Associate—teaching secondary lessons, oboe techniques, and reed-making for oboe majors. He also substitutes with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and performs in area churches and orchestras. A finalist in the MasterWorks Festival, Liberty University, and Ohio State concerto competitions, Ben has also appeared in solo and chamber honors recitals at the Virginia Music Education Association Conference and elsewhere. His teachers include Dr. Abby Yeakle Held, Dr. Rebecca Watson, Dr. Courtney Miller, Dr. Adam Shapiro, and Bill Parrish.
Education has long been central to Ben’s work. As an undergraduate, he taught flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone at the Allegro Music School of Central Virginia, where he helped found the school’s Music Theory Camps and worked with students from preschool through adulthood. He was named a 2025 Teacher of Promise, an honor recognizing the top education students across Virginia. His research focuses on J. S. Bach’s use of the oboe family in his sacred works; he has published a thesis on the subject and presented at the 2026 International Double Reed Society Conference on historically informed performance of Bach’s oboe obbligati. He is now learning Baroque oboe and will attend the International Baroque Academy in fall 2026.
Outside of music, Ben enjoys making espresso (ask him about his latest projects), learning German, and recently picked up the guitar.
