Faculty

Originally from Raleigh, NC, Ben Still is an active solo and chamber musician throughout the United States. Currently, he serves on the faculties of UNC Charlotte and Lenoir-Rhyne University, where he teaches applied saxophone, chamber music, as well as courses in music theory and ear training.

As a soloist, Dr. Still was a national finalist in the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Solo Competition and the winner of the Texas Tech University Concerto Competition. Additionally, Dr. Still has performed at North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial and Regional Conferences, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic (Chicago, IL), and has presented and performed at the International Saxophone Symposium (Fairfax, VA) and Texas Music Educators Association Conference (San Antonio, TX). He has performed with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, the Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra, and the Texas Tech University Symphony Orchestra. As a jazz and commercial musician, he has performed in ensembles with solo artists such as Rodney Booth, Steve Lippia, John Riley, Bob McChesney, Rich Perry, Jim Riggs, Bill Watrous, and Ethan Helm.

An avid chamber music advocate, Dr. Still is a founding member and tenor saxophonist of Mirasol Quartet. He has been a prizewinner and finalist in numerous national chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the American Prize Chamber Music Competition, the ENKOR Chamber Music Competition, the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition, the Music Teachers National Association Chamber Winds Competition, and the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Quartet Competition. Mirasol Quartet now performs across the country at universities and at public schools, presenting educational clinics and engaging chamber music recitals.

Dr. Still holds the DMA and MM in performance from Texas Tech University, studying concert saxophone with David Dees and jazz improvisation and arranging with Stephen Jones. At Texas Tech, he was a member of the TTU Jazz Ensemble I, TTU Saxophone Ensemble, and he also taught saxophone and woodwinds in Lubbock, Lubbock-Cooper, and Frenship Independent School Districts. Additionally, he was a D’Addario Woodwind Method Clinician serving as the representative for Midland/Odessa, TX for the 2016-2017 school year. Prior to moving to Texas, he received his BM in performance from UNC Charlotte, where he studied with Will Campbell and graduated summa cum laude. Dr. Still was also an inaugural member of UNC Charlotte’s College of Arts and Architecture Honors Program, completing his thesis, entitled “A Comparative Analysis of Three Improvisational Approaches to the Chord Progression to ‘I Got Rhythm’”, in 2013. 

Professionally, Dr. Still holds affiliations with Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the College Music Society, and the North American Saxophone Alliance. Dr. Still is a Conn-Selmer Artist/Clinician and performs on Selmer Paris saxophones and mouthpieces exclusively.