Ben Stivers — artist
Ben Stivers is an in-demand keyboard, piano and organ player based in Brooklyn, NY. Ben Stivers has a wide stylistic vocabulary from recording, touring and collaborating with artists across multiple genres including jazz, blues, rock, pop, latin pop, rap, dance and jazz fusion. As his resumé shows, Ben Stivers is recognized around the world as one of the premier keyboard players on the music scene today. Ben was born in Indiana but his family moved to Las Vegas when he was four to pursue musical careers. His father was the bandleader at UNLV and his mother was a professional violin player so it was no surprise when he took an early interest in classical piano. Ben was a dedicated classical piano student and earned recognition as a finalist in the prestigious Arnold Bullock Piano Competition at age 16. In addition to his classical music studies Ben took an interest in jazz fusion bands such as the Yellow Jackets and Weather Report which drove his interest in keyboards and groove. While attending Chapparal High School in Las Vegas Stivers was fortunate to have talented friends to play with like bassist Dave Monsey (Edie Brickell, Tedeschi/Trucks, etc) and many professional musicians living in the community to learn from such as Frank Sinatra band leader Vince Falcone. With this strong musical foundation Ben decided to pursue a career in music. In 1986 Ben moved to Miami to pursue a degree in Studio Music and Jazz at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. The UMschool was very competitive and filled with future stars in musical performance, engineering, production and business and Ben rose to the top in this environment. In the late eighties the Miami music scene was exploding and many successful acts drew from the University of Miami music school for their bands, management, production and writing teams. This inertia launched Ben's international careerwithartists such as Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Chayanne, Exposé, Jon Secada, Emilio Estefan, Dan Warner, Matchbox 20 and many others. A highlight of Ben's Miami years was his collaboration with the Gibb family. Ben touredand recorded with the Bee Gees and Barry Gibbsince the early 90s. IHe continues to collaborate with Barry Gibb in the studio and on stage as keyboard player in the Barry Gibb Band.