A native of Gulf Shores, Alabama, Dr. Benjamin Rollings has earned recognition as first place winner in several music competitions including the University of Georgia Concerto Competition, the Wells Piano Competition, the Debose National Piano Competition, the Atlanta Music Club competition, and the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs Competition. In 2012, he won the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta Scholarship Competition, allowing him to study piano at the Mozarteum International Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria. He was also a finalist in both the Wideman International Piano Competition and the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition held in Chicago. Benjamin has been invited to participate in master classes with some of the world’s most distinguished pianists including Kenneth Drake, Jeremy Denk, Angela Hewitt, Andzej Jasinki, Robert Levin, Seymour Lipkin, and Steven Spooner. His piano teachers have included Jerry Alan Bush, Martha Thomas, and Karen Shaw. In 2020, he received his doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University where he was an associate instructor. He currently serves on the faculty of Pensacola State College and the University of Mobile, where he teaches music appreciation, music theory, class piano, and applied lessons. Mindful that people best enjoy music when they can make it themselves, he also teaches piano and organ privately and is a member of the Music Teachers National Association. He was presented the Top Teacher Award from Steinway & Sons in 2022 and 2023.
Although piano is his primary instrument, Benjamin has maintained an active interest in organ performance throughout his life and has held organist posts since high school. His organ instructors have included David Burton-Brown, George Mims, Marilyn Kaiser and Janette Fishell. Since 2018, he has been the organist and choir director at St. Francis at the Point Anglican Church in Point Clear, AL. Benjamin’s other musical interests include music theory, composition, and orchestration. He is also an avid photographer and enjoys bicycling, kayaking, reading about history and theology, and cooking ethnic cuisines.