Benjamin Carter

Benjamin Carter has played piano and cello from a very young age. This year, with the generous support of the Deane Endowment Trust, he began studying piano at the New Zealand School of Music with Dr. Jian Liu. He has previously had lessons with Beverley Mosley, Eleanor Carter, Douglas Mews, and Freddy Kempf. He first performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2021 when he played the 1st movement of Grieg’s piano concerto conducted by James Judd, and has since made appearances with the orchestra on both piano and cello, as well as performing a piano recital for the NZSO’s 75th anniversary. He was principal cellist of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra in 2021/2023, and the 1st prize winner of the National Young Performing Arts Awards for 2022 playing the cello. Last year, he performed piano and cello at the 5th anniversary concert of the Martinborough Music Festival with musicians from the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. Recently, he performed Mozart Concerto no. 21 with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, and won 3rd prize at the 5th Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians, where he played Mozart’s concerto no. 21 with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists. In 2023, he was awarded a full scholarship from the Royal College of Music in London.