You really cannot talk about Ben without talking about music. It was a central theme of his life and a beautiful part of him.

 

We like to think Ben got his start as a cellist when he arrived in Paris, a six month old baby, and we used our friend Howard Buten’s cello case as his crib. From there, Ben started playing cello in elementary school; he began studying under an extraordinary private teacher Mara Finklestein in middle school, and then, he played in summer chamber music camps and the youth Symphony in high school. Adding to Gary's stories about Ben’s kindness, he volunteered to teach 3rd grade students in an after-school program in South Seattle, hauling his cello on the bus to and fro.

 

[My 2 amusing Ben music stories: programming YoYo Ma to play cello on Ben's scientific calculator in middle school, and Ben buying a $125 cello in Santa Fe to busk with Adam in Taos, strapping it to his back to ride up and down the mountain while riding his motorcycle.]

 

Ben loved classical music but later expanded to the guitar and piano. He brought that music into our lives, and he also enriched our lives with the people he made music with.

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Now that Ben has left us, we set up a fund to raise money to help young deserving musicians. In fact, our cellist today, Andrew Murphy, a truly talented young musician received a scholarship through Ben’s music fund and like many of the fund's recipients, we know that Ben helped change the trajectory of his life.

 

Thank you, Ben.