On Composition, feat Ben Cosgrove | TRACES Appendix 35

A conversation with composer and traveling musician Ben Cosgrove about music, composition, traveling, creative careers, landscapes, portraits, and more.

Find me at cristian@ccb.life

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About the Guest:

Ben Cosgrove is a traveling composer-performer whose music explores themes of landscape, place, and environment. Described by the Boston Globe as “a sonic plein-air painter” who “uses his piano as a paintbrush,” Ben has performed in every U.S. state except for Delaware, collaborated with groups ranging from rock bands to research scientists, contributed music to several radio and film projects (including the recent Ken Burns documentary The American Buffalo), and held residencies and fellowships with institutions including NASA, the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, Harvard University, Middlebury College, the Schmidt Ocean Institute, and the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology.

Ben’s music has been called "beautiful and fascinating" (The Maine Edge), "deeply impressive" (Independent Clauses), and "immediately evocative and fully arresting... brim[ming] with technical mastery and emotional capital" (Seven Days). His newest record, Bearings, a collection of improvisation-based music that reflects upon the relationship between movement and place, was released in 2023. You can read more about Bearings here, stream it on all platforms here, and order the album in CD, vinyl, or digital formats here.

For more about Ben and his work, please visit bencosgrove.com

Set-Up:

- Camera: https://amzn.to/3PZVscb (don't laugh)

- Microphone: https://amzn.to/46f3pB5

- Teleprompter Stand: https://amzn.to/3tgS98y