Ben Cook
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Ben Cook is a pianist whose performing career encompasses numerous different musical arenas. As a regular pianist in the Boston Pops Orchestra, he has logged hundreds of performances at Symphony Hall, the Tanglewood Music Festival, on U.S. tours under the direction of maestros Keith Lockhart and John Williams, and on the orchestra's 2023 tour of Japan. His roles in the ensemble include orchestral pianist, rhythm section player, and accompanist in numerous styles, including jazz, pop, Broadway, classical, and John Williams movie soundtrack music.
Cook also works extensively as a jazz pianist, as an accompanist and sideman, in the New England area. He appeared on several records by multi-instrumentalist Miles Donahue, performed on four albums with the jazz/world music ensemble Crosscurrent, and is a veteran of countless Broadway tour pit orchestras. Cook is a graduate of University of North Texas, where he studied with Dan Haerle and Mary Nan Mailman.
- Hundreds of performances with Boston Pops Orchestra and Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the baton of maestros Keith Lockhart and John Williams, including several national tours and national television broadcasts, such as the annual July 4th celebration
- Backed guest artists with the Boston Pops Orchestra, such as Kristin Chenoweth, Melissa Etheridge, Rhiannon Giddens, Andy Grammer, and Kenny Loggins, among many others
- Featured in concert at Orpheum Theater in Boston, soloing with the band Evanescence on Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"
- Numerous performances with legendary jazz vocalists Rebecca Parris, Donna Byrne, and Clay Osborne, among many others
- Hundreds of performances as a pit orchestra musician for national touring productions of Broadway musicals, including Wicked, Mamma Mia, Cats, White Christmas, West Side Story, and others
- Recordings on four volumes of Miles Donahue's Standards albums alongside pianists Fred Hirsch, Bruce Barth, Joey Calderazzo, and others
- Recorded four albums as co-leader, composer, arranger, and pianist/keyboardist for the jazz/world music ensemble Crosscurrent