Ben Profile

Born in 1955 in The Hague, Ben van Dijk received his first trombone lessons from his father, Piet van Dijk, who at the time was solo trombonist of The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ben earned his Solo Diploma in trombone cum laude in 1980 at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. In 1976, he was appointed to the bass trombone position in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
He continued to study with Jeff Reynolds and Roger Bobo in Los Angeles. After 23 years with the N.R.P.O., Ben joined the Rotterdam Philharmonic as solo bass trombonist.
Ben is currently Professor at the Conservatories of both The Hague and Rotterdam.
He was invited as teacher and soloist to the International Trombone Festivals in Detmold (Germany) in 1992, in Cleveland (USA) in 1994, in Utrecht (Holland) in 2000, in Denton (USA) in 2002, Birmingham (UK) in 2006 and in Austin (USA) in 2010.
Ben has also given master classes and recitals in Korea, Japan, Greece, Hungary, Sweden, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, the USA and many other countries.
In March 2014 he was elected First Vice President of the ITA (International Trombone Association).
He has released five solo CD’s, “Nana”, "First Song", “Melody”, “Never Alone” and “World Concerto” which all received praising reviews in the most important brass/trombone magazines of today. In 2018 Ben will release his 6th cd, an album with a Flamenco-Jazz crossover composition in which Ben plays most of the trombone parts and his flamenco guitar composed by Ilja Reijngoud
In recognition of his contributions to the ITA and to the trombone community at large Ben van Dijk was the recipient of the 2003 ITA Award. This award is the ITA’s most prestigious citation and it recognizes Ben’s artistic achievements and his tireless efforts in promoting and improving global trombone performance standards, brass pedagogy, and instrument design.
In 2017 Ben received the ITA Neill Humfeld Award. This award is given for Excellence in Trombone Teaching, recognizes the trombone teaching contributions of the late Neill Humfeld and honors living teachers who have achieved the highest level of excellence in their work.
Also in 2017 Ben was elected as President of the International Trombone Association for a period of 3 years the most honorable position within the ITA.
Ben plays exclusively on Thein trombones.