Dr. Benjamin A. Charles serves as the Assistant Professor of Percussion at Tarleton State University, where his duties include teaching percussion lessons and percussion methods, as well as directing the TSU Percussion Ensemble and The Sound & The Fury Drumline. Dr. Charles also maintains an online presence as a co-host on the @ Percussion podcast, a weekly hour-long program featuring distinguished musical guests.
A versatile performer, Dr. Charles’s experience spans solo percussion works, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire. He was featured as a showcase performer at the 2009 and 2011 Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC). Additionally, he has been featured as a concerto soloist at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts as well as at the College Band Directors National Association Conference in Jacksonville. Most recently, he was featured as a soloist with the Tarleton State University Wind Ensemble performing Michael Daugherty’s timpani concerto, Raise the Roof.
As an advocate for contemporary music, Dr. Charles has championed new works for percussion. He has been actively involved in procuring new works by commissioning such prominent composers as Mark Applebaum, Thomas Sleeper, and Alejandro Viñao.
Dr. Charles is a member of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS). He is a proud artist/endorser of Yamaha instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, and Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets.