Benjie Messer is a composer based in Phoenix, Arizona. He writes fluently in a broad range of traditional and modern musical styles, from orchestral and jazz to pop, electronica and world music. He composes for film and media productions and live performance ensembles, and for years was a staff arranger at One Light Music Productions. Messer has studied composition with Andy Jaffe, David Reck, Salvatore Macchia and Yusef Lateef. He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and received an ASCAPLUS award in 2011.
An experienced trombonist, Messer is the leader of the New Orleans-style Bad Cactus Brass Band, and is a regular soloist with many jazz and popular ensembles. In various projects, he has opened for and sat in with George Clinton and P-Funk, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Soulive, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and trombonist Steve Turre. Messer studied trombone with John Faieta, David Sporny, Richard Frazier and Cameron Gates. He is a member of Local 586, the Phoenix chapter of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM).
Messer currently teaches electronic music at Phoenix College and directs the band at Grand Canyon University. He has also taught in the Collins College audio production program. Messer holds a Masters in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (2002) and a Kodaly Music Teacher’s Certificate from the Kodaly Music Institute at New England Conservatory (2004). From 2002-06, he taught general and choral music at Boston’s Learning Project Elementary School, as well as private music lessons on various instruments. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education.
People were absolutely blown away by your musical score for Of Blood & Gin. Seriously. You have no idea how many compliments I got about it. As soon as the opening credits started rolling I heard a woman behind me say “wow….ok, now this is a real movie!” Everyone absolutely LOVES the theme. Thank you so much for lending your time and talent to the film.
- Ryan Pierson, director, Friars Lantern Entertainment
I love your arrangements for Spiritrax! They’re so creative and interesting. You can’t find tracks like this anywhere else.
- Christopher Adams, performer, SingingChaplain.com