Benjamin Smolen has performed across the globe, from the United States to Europe, Russia, and Japan. He joined the Pacific Symphony Orchestra in 2011, where he holds the Valerie and Hans Imhof Principal Flute Chair, and was recently appointed Principal Flute of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He is also Resident Flutist with the Los Angeles-based chamber ensemble Salastina. He has performed as guest Principal Flute with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Pasadena Symphony. He has given solo performances with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Gardner Webb Symphony Orchestra, Princeton University Orchestra, Charlotte Civic and Youth Orchestras, and twice on National Public Radio.

In addition to his work on stage, Benjamin is active in the Hollywood scoring industry and has recorded with composers including John Williams, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, John Powell, and Randy Newman. He can be heard on projects such as Star Wars Episodes VII – IX, Encanto, Avatar: The Way of Water, Nope, The Fabelmans, Toy Story 4, X-Men: Apocalypse, The BFG, Ghostbusters, Monsters University, Night at the Museum, and on Neil Young’s latest album, Storytone.

Benjamin has given recitals around the world, including performances as a featured guest at the Japan Flute Festival and the National Flute Association’s annual convention. He won First Prize at the Haynes International Flute Competition and James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition and Second Prize at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition and National Flute Association Young Artist Competition. His flute and guitar ensemble Duo Musagete, with guitarist Jerome Mouffe, has performed highly acclaimed concerts in the United States and Europe, and they recently released their debut album, Bach to Beaser.

Benjamin has been a guest teaching artist at Chapman University, CSU-Long Beach, CSU-Fullerton, San Diego State University, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of California at Irvine, the Symphony Guild of Charlotte, the Long Beach Summer Flute Institute, and Jim Walker’s Beyond the Masterclass.

Benjamin completed his undergraduate studies in the Music and Slavic departments at Princeton University, during which time he also completed a Performance Diploma at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He earned a Master of Music degree in Flute Performance at the New England Conservatory and spent two summers as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. His teachers include Paula Robison, Michael Parloff, Elizabeth Rowe, Jennifer Dior, and Jayn Rosenfeld.

Benjamin is a William S. Haynes Artist and performs on a handmade, custom-crafted Haynes 14-karat gold flute.

Pianist Mitsuko Morikawa has been an active soloist, coach, collaborative pianist and chamber musician in United States as well as in Asia. She has collaborated with highly acclaimed musicians from a wide variety of genres spanning instrumental music, opera, musical theater and choral ensembles. Some of the artists that Ms. Morikawa has performed with include Julia Migenes, Rodney Gilfry, Kristinn Sigmundsson, TimothyMussard, Michel Debost, James Walker, Denis Bouriakov, Leone Buyse, Carol Wincenc, Jean
Ferrandis, Marianne Gedigian, Martin Chalifour, Roberto Cani, David Rejano Cantero, Megumi Kanda, Randy Hawes, and Timothy Higgins. Ms. Morikawa has also recorded music for the New World Records label and has been featured on radio programs such as KUSC, WCLV, Cleveland and NHK-FM, Japan.

Apart from her accomplishments as a performer, Ms. Morikawa has also distinguished herself as a unique and highly regarded coach/accompanist. She has served on the faculties at Occidental College, Santa Monica College, the Meadowmount School of Music, Idyllwild Arts Academy Summer Program, National Flute Association Annual Convention, National Cello Institute, Beyond the Masterclass with Jim Walker at Colburn School, Oberlin College Conservatory, the Oberlin Flute Institute, Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory and the ENCORE School of Strings. She is currently working at the California State University Los Angeles, Colburn School, UCLA and Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.

Ms. Morikawa’s degrees consist of a B.M. in piano performance from the Toho School of Music, Japan, an M.M. in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music, a Professional Studies Certificate in piano performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music and a D.M.A. in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the University of Southern California. Some of Ms. Morikawa’s teachers include Alan Smith, Norman Krieger, Sergei Babayan, Cheng-Zong Yin, Paul Schenly, Sara Davis Buechner and Hisako Ueno.