
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and singer, Ben Russell loves to create music of all kinds with musicians around the world. Living in NYC for close to 20 years, Ben performs with countless artists on the stage, in the studio, on the screen, on soundtracks, on Broadway, and in concert halls big and small. He can be heard on GRAMMY-winning albums, on Emmy-winning soundtracks, on late night television, and on popular streaming playlists receiving millions of listens per month. He performs with “impressive expressivity and musicality” (The Strad) combined with “spiky, down-home fiddle and soaring violin lines” (Apple Music Classical). Most recently, Ben has been collaborating with Max Richter, performing his popular albums, Blue Notebooks and In a Landscape, to sold-out audiences around the world. Ben recorded Max’s 8-hour work titled Sleep and performs the work with Max in its entirety for audiences worldwide. Other recording and touring collaborations include artists such as Johann Johannson (on Orphée and Drone Mass), Miho Hazama (on m_unit: Beyond Orbits), Björk (on Vulnicura Strings), Sufjan Stevens (on Planetarium), Blonde Redhead (on 3 O’Clock), and Carla Kihlstedt (on 26 Little Deaths). Ben also appears on a diversity of albums such as The Suburbs (Arcade Fire), No No No and Study of Losses (Beirut), A Lad’s Love (Brian Giebler), Divers (Joanna Newsom), The Age of Adz (Sufjan Stevens), Dirty Projectors (Dirty Projectors), Trouble Will Find Me (The National), Lumiere (Dustin O’Halloran) and Where Are The Arms (Gabriel Kahane). Ben has co-created several ensembles: his duo, Hinterlands, released their drone-folk, improv-filled, debut album in 2025. He also co-created a popular classical crossover band, Founders, where all members sang and wrote their own arrangements. Ben’s newest ensemble, Few of a Kind, seeks to continue in that same vein, but with new members Vienna Teng, Brandon Ridenour, Andrew Gutauskas, and Yousif Sheronick.