Violinist and 3Arts awardee Brandi Berry Benson, whose "four-string acrobatics" and "indispensable skill" (TimeOut Chicago) have been praised as "alert [and] outstanding" (Chicago Classical Review), as her "riffs.. powered by a flashing blur of bow arm, [as they] rolled out with irresistible glee" (Washington Post). Season highlights as Artistic Director of the Bach & Beethoven Experience (BBE) include: the (re)premiere of Scotland’s first opera, The Gentle Shepherd; a new music project for period instruments called Chicago Stories; a premiere in collaboration with Artemisia vocal trio, composer Heidi Joosten, and Blaxican poet Leslé Honoré called Pandemic Woman; a Baroque dance program with world renowned dancer Paige Whitley-Baugess, as well as the release of four albums: A Gaelic Summer (2019), An Appalachian Summer (2019), Chicago Stories (2021), and Carols (2023). In 2023, she released her own first full length album of original music called Silver Linings, and premiered her new work for period and indigenous instruments called The Story of Pa I Sha, based on the stories of her Chickasaw ancestors. She also recently premiered a series of five new works, Songs of the Chickasaws (2026), that she composed based on the stories of five Chickasaw heroes - Chief Tishu Miko, Governor Jonas Wolfe, Lushanya, Sadie Humes, and Jesse Lindsey.
She has appeared with numerous ensembles throughout North America including at the Library of Congress, Festival de Musica Virreinal de Durango, Mexico City’s UNAM, the Boston, Berkeley, Bloomington, Houston, Indianapolis, and Madison Early Music Festivals, Early Music Now, Goodman Theatre, Green Mill, and many others. On radio and TV, she has appeared on WGN Daytime, ABC7, Fox 32, WFMT, WGN-AM, WNUR, Chicago Irish Radio, and Wisconsin Public Radio.
As a recipient of Early Music America's Thomas Zajac Memorial Scholarship and a fellowship from Northwestern University's Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR), Brandi continues to research Native American music traditions and the influence of the Five Civilized Tribes on early American music.
As a fiddler, Brandi grew up playing bluegrass in her hometown of College Station, TX alongside her classical studies. She's performed with numerous bluegrass, country, and rock bands, continues to teach and perform folk music, and research historical fiddling traditions of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Brandi serves on the faculty of Northwestern and DePaul Universities where she teaches courses on Baroque music and Native American music.
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Brandi Berry Benson has crowd-funded a project with 3AP
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The Gentle Shepherd is the first Scottish “folk opera” ever written, published in 1725 by the poet Allan Ramsay. I first happened upon this work by accident while sifting through a bunch of Scottish folk music. As a baroque violinist …
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Chicago Stories is a music project featuring newly commissioned works by Chicago composers inspired by the stories and experiences of fellow Chicagoans and their communities. It all started with a conversation I had with my Bach & Beethoven Experience (BBE) …
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- $7,100 raised of $6,000 goal
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The Story of Pa I Sha is a musical work I am composing based on the stories from my Chickasaw heritage beginning with my great-great-great-grandmother, Pa I Sha. With members of my ensemble, the Bach & Beethoven Experience, I plan …
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