Composer: Persephone (2004)
Tigger Benford is a percussionist and composer, specializing in hand drumming, improvisation and music for dance. In recent years he produced half evening length scores for the well known modern dance choreographers Sean Curran and Jane Comfort, and numerous other works for less widely known but highly gifted choreographers and companies, including his Rutgers colleagues John Evans, Julia Ritter and Randy James. His scores for dance have been funded by Meet the Composer, the Dodge Foundation, American Music Center, and the Flagler Trust. Other recent work includes the release of two CDs: “Talamalika” from 2004, and “Songs From The Second World” from 2007, with keyboardist Peter Jones and Jesse Manno on Balkan and Middle Eastern lutes. Benford is an Associate Professor and Music Director of the Dance Department of Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and is an advanced student of tabla maestro Pandit Samir Chatterjee. He is proud to be returning in 2008 for his 10th year at Bates Dance Festival, the summer home of some of the finest musicians for modern dance in the world.
Photo: Paul H Taylor
website: www.tiggerbenfordpercussion.com
