Composer and pianist Benjamin Krause creates music that freely draws upon varied sound worlds, characterized by its visceral rhythmic energy and colorful, impressionistic harmonies. Described as “immediately appealing…inventive” (EarRelevant), and “potent” (ICareIfYouListen.com), his music has been performed by the Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Chamber Players, and Philadelphia’s Network for New Music, among other leading ensembles and organizations. He has received a Copland House Residency Award, the Houston Symphony Emerging Composer Award, a Presser Foundation Award, and was named the Distinguished Composer of the Year by the Music Teachers National Association in 2019.

His work has been supported through residencies at the Brush Creek Arts Foundation and at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts, where he was awarded a Distinguished Artist Fellowship. Other honors include recognition from the RED NOTE Music Festival; the Indiana State Contemporary Music Festival; and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Significant recent commissions include those from the Atlanta Chamber Players, Fox Valley Symphony, Michigan Music Teachers Association, and Lutheran Summer Music Academy.

Krause earned degrees in music composition from Rice University (DMA) and the University of Oregon (MM). As a student at the American Conservatory of Fontainebleau, France, he was awarded the Prix Marion Tournon Branly; he has also been in residence at Brevard Music Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, and the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Institute, where he has served as Composer-in-Residence. He lives with his wife (pianist Christina Giuca Krause) and son in Holland, Michigan, where he teaches composition and theory at Hope College.