Benjamin Rollings began his piano studies at the age of six. At the age of thirteen, he began studying piano with Dr. Jerry Alan Bush at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. He was later awarded the Theodore Presser Scholarship and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2011. That same year, he received a graduate teaching assistantship at the University of Georgia, where he studied for his Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Dr. Martha Thomas. A year following his graduation from UGA in 2013, Benjamin was admitted to the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University where he studied piano under the late Dr. Karen Shaw and served as an associate instructor. He received his Doctor of Music degree in May 2020 with a major in piano performance and a double minor in organ performance and music theory. He currently serves on the music faculty at Pensacola State College as staff accompanist.
Benjamin has earned extensive recognition as first place winner in several music competitions. In 2012, he won the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta Scholarship Competition, allowing him to study piano at the esteemed Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria. Other first prizes include the Atlanta Chapter of the American Guild of Organists Scholarship Auditions (2013), the Atlanta Music Club Scholarship Competition (2012), the University of Georgia Concerto Competition (2011), the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs Competition (2010), the Wells Piano Competition (2009), and the Debose National Piano Competition (2008 and 2009). He was also a finalist in both the 2013 Wideman International Piano Competition and the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Young Artist Competition held in Chicago (2014).
Although piano is his primary instrument, Benjamin has maintained an equal interest in organ performance throughout his life. His organ instructors have included Mr. Paul Anderson, Dr. David Burton-Brown, Mr. Bruce Neswick, Dr. Marilyn Kaiser and most recently, Dr. Janette Fishell. During high school, he was the organist at St. Jude’s by the Sea Lutheran Church in his hometown of Gulf Shores, Alabama. Between 2013 and 2014, Benjamin was the organ scholar of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mobile, AL under the mentorship of Dr. George Mims. Between 2014 and 2018, he was the organist of First Presbyterian Church in Bedford, Indiana. Since October 2018, he has been the organist at St. Francis at the Point Anglican Church in Point Clear, AL where he plays for worship services, numerous weddings, and conducts the church choir. Mindful that people best enjoy music when they can make it themselves, he also teaches piano and organ privately and is a member of both the Music Teachers National Association and the American Guild of Organists.
Besides his ongoing study of piano and organ performance, other musical interests include music theory, composition, and orchestration. He is also an avid photographer specializing in landscape and astrophotography. When he is not involved in music making, teaching, or taking pictures, he enjoys bicycling, kayaking, hiking, reading history, taking part in Christian theological studies, and cooking ethnic cuisines.
