JUSTIN BENAVIDEZ

Hailed as "a true virtuoso of his instrument" by Fanfare Magazine, Justin Benavidez joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music as Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium in 2023. He is Principal Tuba of the Syracuse Orchestra and spends his summers on faculty at the Round Top Music Festival in Round Top, Texas and as Principal Tuba of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, California.

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Benavidez has performed across North America, Europe, and Japan. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with various ensembles, including the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the United States Army Band "Pershing's Own", the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. His solo albums have won four combined Global Music Awards, the most recent described by Fanfare as "splendidly eloquent [...] a masterclass in expressiveness."

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As an orchestral tubist, Benavidez has performed with the symphony orchestras of Charleston, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Rochester, Santa Fe, Sarasota, Tallahassee, and Utah. He is the recipient of the Paul Boylan Award (University of Michigan), the Orchestral Fellowship and New Horizons Fellowship (Aspen Music Festival), the McKnight Faculty Fellowship and a University Teaching Award (Florida State University), the Horace H. Rackham Merit Fellowship (University of Michigan), and he was the winner of the Aspen Music Festival concerto competition.

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Benavidez is a Melton Meinl Weston and Denis Wick performing artist.