Ben Read is a San Diego based actor, writer, and musician who loves music and theatre in all its forms, which makes a concert featuring the music of George Gershwin a thrilling opportunity for him. He is honored and excited to be making music once again with Bodhi Tree Concerts after playing piano for "Enrique Toral Back to Broadway: The Songs I've Never Sung."

 

Other recent credits include musically directing and performing in 1940's Radio Hour at Lamplighters theatre, working as a pianist for the F.F. Collective’s production of La Traviata, as an understudy and swing for Cygnet Theatre’s annual production of A Christmas Carol, and as Cord Elam in Welk Theatre Resorts production of Oklahoma!.

 

Ben's limited but invaluable directing experiences involve creating productions in backyards with talented friends, including an intimate production of The Fantasticks for which he also served as a pianist, and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in which he played Hero.

 

A graduate of CSU Northridge’s music composition for film and media program, Ben also loves orchestral music composition and the art of pairing music with visual stories. Upcoming: he is very excited for his original musical that he has written and composed with his sister, which they will be producing in San Diego this summer.