Pianist/composer/educator Ben Schwendener has lived in and been a part of Boston’s music scene since the early 1980’s. A critically acclaimed performer, prolific composer and recording artist, Ben has appeared throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, had his work performed and recorded by George Russell’s ‘Living Time Orchestra’, released five recordings as a leader/co-leader on the Gravity Records label, and composed commissioned works for various individuals, ensembles, dance companies, independent film, television, digital picture books for ‘Kidzebo’, and recently for the dance suite “Inner-State 128" by Shari Repasz Schwendener.

A former student of jazz legends George Russell, Ran Blake, Jimmy Guiffre, Miroslav Vitous and Joe Maneri, Schwendener is currently on the jazz faculties of the New England Conservatory and the Longy School of Music, where he teaches George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization and directs ensembles. He also directs a Creative Music Ensemble at the Rivers School in Weston, MA. Ben is also a faculty member  at U-Mass Boston, where he teaches a course he designed for the 'Creative and Critical Thinking' department. He is also the director of Gravity Arts, Inc. - an arts education non-profit, which he founded in 1997.

He currently lives in Jamaica Plain, MA with his wife Shari, and two children Elodi, and Uli.

This music was selected from works inspired by and created for my private piano students over the past fifteen years. In creating works specifically for and with my individual students (of all ages, but most often very young), I have aimed to produce works that could potentially stand on their own in an amateur (recital), as well as a professional (concert) venue. In all cases, the pieces included in these Volumes were selected and edited for their thematic integrity as well as their unique imagery. The content and progression of pieces in these books follow a specific design; each ‘Volume’ contains graduated individual pieces that students may learn and perform separately, while formally a complete ‘Volume (or suite)’ may be performed in its entirety.

Each “Volume” is broken into “Parts” which contain works matched roughly by ability and thematic consistency. Pieces within a ‘part’ loosely segue. A brief pause occurs between each ‘part’ (or ‘movement’, if you like). In each Volume, works progress from very simple, five note pieces to moderately difficult polyphonic compositions.

In the back of each book is a CD recording of the entire Volume - performed ‘live’ by a trio of piano, bass and drums (Volume I features Michael Calabrese and Bridget Kearney, Volume II is performed with Blake Newman- bass, and Steve Chaggaris- drums). The piano part I’m playing for the most part strictly follows the written music of the Volume. The reason for including a recording of a trio performing essentially piano sheet music, is that it is hoped that the student can gain a better understanding of an entire musical – rhythmic as well as possible atmospheric – context, perhaps more so than a metronome marking or directive word or phrase is able to provide.