Benjamin T. Nylander is a composer and pianist living in Brooklyn, New York. Nylander’s compositional output draws from a number of influences, including a strong background in traditional western performance augmented by the various digressions of the twentieth century and the creative liberties of contemporary classical music. Nylander synthesizes a broad range of genres and frequently embraces themes of a deep reverence of nature and human connection.

Benjamin T. Nylander holds his Master’s in Music Composition from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio and his Bachelor’s in Piano Performance from Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. He has studied composition with Drs. Marilyn Shrude, Christopher Dietz, Mikel Kuehn, and Patrick Long as well as piano with Drs. Solungga Liu, Naomi Niskala, and Marcos Krieger. Nylander has performed at Niigata University in Japan with the Susquehanna University GO Program, and as the winner of the 2018 SU Concerto Competition, performed Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto no. 2 in G minor (Movement 1) with the SU orchestra in February 2019. He has since delved deeply into collaborative piano at Bowling Green State University, and has found frequent opportunity for performance with saxophonist Joshua Heaney (Duo Aurous).

Nylander has enjoyed many recent premieres of his works, most notably his new chamber opera Nuclear performed and recorded by the Bowling Green State University Opera studio in April 2021. A work for orchestra, Portrait of a Dreamer, was read and recorded by the Toledo Symphony Orchestra in November 2019. Two large works, Camp for chamber orchestra and Tripwire 16 for String Quartet were selected for premiere and reading by the Bowling Green State University New Music Ensemble and the Rhythm Methods String Quartet in 2020. Recently, Nylander has spent quarantine time as artist-in-residence at Virginia Creative Center for the Arts in Mt. San Angelo, Virginia and at Snow Pond Music Festival in Sidney Maine, where he composed and conducted the premiere of Once More to the Ocean for an ensemble of 24 saxophones.