Ben Freidkin
Ben Freidkin
Drummer Ben Freidkin was born in 1994. His parents, who are classical music fans, have exposed him to music from a very young age. At the age of six he started studying classical piano with the renown pianist Nadia Weintraub. At the age of 14, he began playing the drum set. During high school, he was exposed to jazz for the first time while studying at a jazz music program endorsed by “Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music”. His final exam in this program was a 5 piece jazz drum recital in which he received a perfect score of 100/100.
At 2015 Ben was accepted to the exclusive and prestigious jazz performance program – “The Rimon Jazz Institute”, run by pianist Ronen Shmueli, where he studied for 2 years with some of the best of Israel’s jazz musicians and instructors. While in Rimon, Ben began playing professionally and played concerts with Saxophonist Miguel Zenon, Guitarist Shai Chen, and Cellist Telalit Charsky, among many others.
Between 2017-2019 Ben completed his bachelor’s degree at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. During his studies in the academy, Ben played in both the representative ensemble and the big band. Additionally, he was chosen to play with guest artist Aaron Goldberg, represented the institution in a music festival in Toronto Canada, and won 1st place in the “Jazz Player of the Year” competition.
Since 2019 Ben is a graduate student at Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College in New York City. During his studies, he was selected to play with guest artist Eddie Henderson and in a series of tribute concerts dedicated to the program founder – saxophonist Jimmy Heath.
Ben has studied drums with an array of teachers, enabling him to play effortlessly in a wide range of genres. His teachers include Dennis Mackrel, Amir Bresler, Rony Holan, Yaaki Levy, Gasper Bertoncelj, Oleg Sosnov, Eyal Raz and Daniel Dor. Meanwhile, he returned to the piano and began to compose, studying with pianists Tal Even Tzur, Roee Ben Sira, and Yaaki Levy. Besides drums and piano, Ben studied African percussion and rhythmic concepts with Ben Aylon and the Brazilian pandeiro with Oded Aloni.
Notable Performances:
Concert with guitarist Shai Chen at Tzavta Theater –19/02/2016
Concert with saxophonist Miguel Zenon at the Givatayim Theater -02/02/2017
Performances with world renowned cellist Telalit Charsky –2017
Concert with guitarist Dekel Bor –10/11/2017
Concert (Gulda‘s Concerto) with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra conducted by Chen Zimbalista. -25/01/2018
Concert (Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances) with the Mendi Rodan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eitan Globerson. Percussion instrument: the triangle and gong – -05/06/2018
Performing in a musical show for children (Songs For Amalia) around the country with renown actors Alma Zack and Alon Neumann – 2018-2019
Concert with Albert Beger in Levontin 7 –18/01/2019
Concert with Albert Beger –07/02/2019
Concert with pianist Aaron Goldberg at the Jerusalem Academy of Music –27/02/2019
Concert with pianist Rami Levin, bassist Eli Magen and saxophonist Nitzan Ein Habar –29/04/2019
Concert with Trumpeter Eddie Henderson at The Aaron Copland School Of Music – 26/09/2019
Festivals:
Menashe Forest Festival 2016 with Vini Vicious Band.
The Jerusalem Academy of Music Representative Jerusalem Jazz Festivals 2018 & 2019 with Ensemble.
November 2018 Tel Aviv Jazz Festival with Gumbo Band.
Jewish Music Week Festival in Toronto with Jazz Central – 31/05/2019
Awards:
A recipient of the AICF scholarship for the years 2018-2019
Winner of “The George Bann Award for Best Jazz Performer” for 2019 at the Jerusalem Academy of Music.
Admitted to The Jerusalem Academy of Music Big Band (led by Danny Rosenfeld). –2018
Admitted to The Jerusalem Academy of Music Representative Ensemble. –2018
Ben has participated in a lot of masterclasses and workshops given by musicians from all around the world, including some by Gilad Hekselman, Miguel Zenon, Avishai Cohen (Trumpet), Omar Hakim, Antonio Sanchez, Aaron Spears, Adam Nussbaum, Zohar Fresco & Mark Mushayev, Marvin Diz, Chris Coleman, Billy Cobham, Thomas Lang, Thomas Pridgen.
Having grown up in an atmosphere of intellect and learning, he loves to delve into the history of music and into the biographies of musicians. He is, therefore, planning to combine an academic career with performing life. In this respect, he looks to musicians such as Vijay Iyer and Steve Coleman as his role models.
