dr. jay w. gilbert - composer, director of bands, doane college:

"every once in a while a new voice in music comes along that speaks with a clarity, a freshness, a vitality that can be felt to the core of the human experience. his voice is...well...different."

dr. kurt runestad - director of choirs, doane college:

"it's been a pleasure to watch ben kaye-skinner flourish and grow as a young composer here at doane college over the last 4 years. i've found his music to be unique and fresh, and i look forward to hearing further compositions of his in the future."

chuck norris - actor, martial artist, philanthropist, awesome:

"i don't know him, but if i ever find him, i'm going to give him a congratulatory roundhouse kick in the face for his work."

writing music since the age of 12, ben kaye-skinner premiered his first composition at 18 and every year since has been a featured composer for the symphonic wind ensemble at doane college in crete, ne. his music ranges from the serene and pensive to uncomfortable and uproarious. his most popular pieces have been those from his "marches for the preferably deaf" series. he has composed for wind ensemble, choir, brass quintet, pep band, weddings, nose flutes, and any number of silly things.

never afraid to stand out in a crowd of one, ben is always trying to find new ways to twist and manipulate music. one of his favorite methods is taking well-known songs and sucking the life out of them, leaving their twisted corpses for the listener to deal with. A couple perfect examples are Jesu, Joy of Man's Discomfort (bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire" and Für Elisa McGlynn (beethoven's "Für Elise"). He is also glad to experiment in his original work, such as in "Through the Looking Glass", for which he invented two new keys.

ben currently serves as director of bands at fillmore central public schools in geneva, ne, where he shares his house with tubs of legos and his infestation of koalas. always up for a challenge, he has a least a dozen compositions in his "to be finished" folder.