10/08/2026
Did you know Camille Saint-Saëns' wrote Carnival of the Animals after a disastrous tour? That's right - one of classical music's most beloved pieces - and one of his biggest successes - was born out of failure, a testament to the composer’s inspiration and resilience! 🙌
We are excited to highlight our second guest artist for our Season Opener on October 18th, with Grammy-nominated conductor, pianist, arranger, educator, arts administrator and entrepreneur Benjamin Loeb! Learn more about Benjamin below then hear him perform Carnival of the Animals live at the concert, FREE for teachers, Seniors and first responders with RSVP link in bio!
Benjamin Loeb is a Grammy-nominated conductor, pianist, arranger, educator, arts administrator and entrepreneur whose musical life has been shaped by curiosity, versatility and an enduring enthusiasm for bringing people together through music. Praised by The Boston Globe for his “vigorous, cogent playing [that] signaled the kind of equally weighted partnership, plus competition, plus mutual quest … that [makes] this music live,” Loeb has built a career that rarely follows a straight line, moving comfortably between podium and piano, concert hall and classroom, established masterpieces and unexpected musical adventures.
He has appeared as piano soloist under Alan Gilbert with the Boston Pops Orchestra and collaborated with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, JoAnn Falletta, Carl St. Clair and Rossen Milanov. His projects have ranged from Beethoven and Bruckner symphonies to recordings of 16th-century Italian madrigals, rock tours and more than 100 world premieres of contemporary works.
In recent seasons, Loeb conducted the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a sold-out performance of Murry Sidlin’s Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín and led performances and recordings with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra in Ukraine and orchestras in the Czech Republic. In 2025, he received a Grammy nomination as conductor for the Studio 7 Media album ALIKE – My Mother’s Dream with longtime collaborator soprano Allison Charney. At the piano, he performed the complete Brahms Violin Sonatas with Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Robert Chen. His international work has also included a U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Argentina and Uruguay as an Artistic Ambassador.
Creating opportunities for other musicians has always been as important to Loeb as performing. In 2002, he founded the International Conducting Workshop and Festival, which has since trained hundreds of conductors from around the world through programs in the United States, Europe and Mexico. He also founded and directed the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras and has served as Executive Director of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Greater Bridgeport Symphony and interim Music Director of the New Hampshire Music Festival. Throughout these endeavors runs a simple conviction: musical institutions matter most when they help people discover, grow and create something together.
