Ben Williams, Conductor
Ben Williams has extensive performing and teaching experience as a freelance artist and
educator in the New York area. A co- recipient of a Jazz Fellowship Grant from the
National Endowment of the Arts, Ben has led and co-led numerous groups under his own
name performing in many venues in the NYC area and across the country. As a sideman
he has performed and recorded with artists as diverse as Oliver Lake, Southside Johnny,
Keely Smith, Johnny Mathis and Clarence Clemons. Ben has recorded for Concord
Records as well as many independent labels, and has done much soundtrack work for TV
and movies. He also has appeared in front of the camera as well: his appearances have
included Late Night with Conan O’Brien and the movie Little Manhattan. Hot House
magazine says of Ben, "Like Jimmy Knepper, Williams is a distinctive and resourceful
trombonist. He’s not afraid to let the horn sound like itself”.
As an educator, Ben was music director for “Music For Kids,” a hands-on program
designed for children and adults that demonstrated the many facets of music-making,
based in Maplewood, NJ. He was co founder of “The Jazz Explorers,” a traveling
program that uses music to demonstrate and incorporate improvisation in our everyday
lives, based in the New York City area Ben has conducted clinics throughout the
country on trombone performance, improvisation, and is a Visiting Artist at the Tyson
School of Performing Arts in East Orange, NJ. A graduate of the New England
Conservatory of Music, Ben is also an adjunct faculty member at Newark Academy in
Livingston, NJ and Stevens Co-op in Hoboken NJ. Ben has been Music Director for
Swing Town, Maplewood Community Music’s big band, since 2010. He runs a private
music studio in Maplewood NJ, where he resides with with his wife Susan.
educator in the New York area. A co- recipient of a Jazz Fellowship Grant from the
National Endowment of the Arts, Ben has led and co-led numerous groups under his own
name performing in many venues in the NYC area and across the country. As a sideman
he has performed and recorded with artists as diverse as Oliver Lake, Southside Johnny,
Keely Smith, Johnny Mathis and Clarence Clemons. Ben has recorded for Concord
Records as well as many independent labels, and has done much soundtrack work for TV
and movies. He also has appeared in front of the camera as well: his appearances have
included Late Night with Conan O’Brien and the movie Little Manhattan. Hot House
magazine says of Ben, "Like Jimmy Knepper, Williams is a distinctive and resourceful
trombonist. He’s not afraid to let the horn sound like itself”.
As an educator, Ben was music director for “Music For Kids,” a hands-on program
designed for children and adults that demonstrated the many facets of music-making,
based in Maplewood, NJ. He was co founder of “The Jazz Explorers,” a traveling
program that uses music to demonstrate and incorporate improvisation in our everyday
lives, based in the New York City area Ben has conducted clinics throughout the
country on trombone performance, improvisation, and is a Visiting Artist at the Tyson
School of Performing Arts in East Orange, NJ. A graduate of the New England
Conservatory of Music, Ben is also an adjunct faculty member at Newark Academy in
Livingston, NJ and Stevens Co-op in Hoboken NJ. Ben has been Music Director for
Swing Town, Maplewood Community Music’s big band, since 2010. He runs a private
music studio in Maplewood NJ, where he resides with with his wife Susan.