Adjunct Staff, Instructor of Strings, Luthier

Ben Sanford, born in Charlottesville, Virginia, has had an active freelance performance career which has led him to play with orchestras and chamber groups across the continental US.

He obtained a degree from James Madison University in violin performance and has since studied privately with teachers who reside in schools/institutions such as Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, and Baltimore Symphony. Ben has been a music teacher for the greater Charlottesville area for 12 years at the Music Education Center where he gives instruction in violin, viola, cello, and directs their orchestra and other various ensembles. He also teaches for the Boyd Tinsley program in conjunction with Charlottesville High School.

He is currently the apprentice of local luthier Oded Kishony for violin making and repair after working for the shops Carl Becker and Son and Darnton and Hersh in Chicago.