Benjamin Harding

Piano

DMA (University of Maryland), MM (Manhattan School of Music)

Riverstone Church: Director of Worship
CSSM faculty since 2003

Canadian-American pianist, Benjamin Harding, began his study of piano at the age of five, competing in a variety of festivals and competitions from an early age. Benjamin completed the performance requirements for the Associateship Degree of the Royal Conservatory of Music while in high school and has appeared on CBC Radio in his home province of New Brunswick. He has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Hong Kong. An active chamber musician, Benjamin has recently collaborated with cellists Michael Katz and Kangho Lee, violinists Anthea Kreston, Benjamin Shute, David Kim, Christopher Wu and violist Clark Potter. His primary piano teachers include Juanita Spragg, Carol O’Neil, Samuel Hsu, Nina Svetlanova, Bradford Gowen, and Edna Golandsky. 

He is host and producer of the successful podcast, “Inside the Taubman Approach”,  on behalf of the Golandsky Institute. His latest recordings of the music of Gustav Hoyer can be found at the composer’s website www.gustavhoyer.com and at Octave Records. Benjamin premiered the new work composed for him, Psalms without Words: Ten Preludes by composer David Bennett Thomas this past season and has added it to his extensive engagements. In the 2024-2025 season, he will be premiering yet another work composed for him by composer Ryan Carson, “The Wind in His Fists”; a tour de force work offered in the style of Franz Liszt. 

He is a frequent guest conductor and clinician for high school choir, band, and orchestra festivals. He is an active member of the American Liszt Society – President of the Philadelphia Chapter -, and the Music Teachers National Association. He is also the director and founder of the St. Andrews International Piano Festival in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada. 

He holds a Masters degree and Professional Studies certificate from Manhattan School of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also Director of Worship Ministries at Riverstone Church in Yardley, PA.

Benjamin is comfortable performing in a variety of styles having performed on the stage of the Grand Ol’ Opry to Carnege Hall and the Kennedy Center. He serves on the piano and conducting faculty at the Csehy Summer School of Music where he met his wife Marji. They have four children and live in Holland, PA. He is a certified piano technician and owns Harding Piano Services while being the secretary of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild.