10 Things To Know About #TBAMF Rising Star Ben Pila

Today’s #MusicMonday spotlight is shining on Ben Pila.  This local musician was discovered by the Hard Rock Tampa during June’s Tampa Bay Acoustic Music Festival in the Hard Rock Cafe.

  1. Ben is an exceptionally talented classical guitarist with a Master’s from The Juilliard School and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from USC.
  2. He has performed extensively throughout the United States and is a regular performer at the September 11th Commemoration at Ground Zero in New York City.
  3. Ben started playing guitar when he was 12 and “obsessed” with Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne.
  4. He went to Blake High School to play in their electric guitar program but there was a new teacher that year and the program was changed to a classical guitar program.
  5. He almost transferred schools but stuck it out and has been playing classical guitar, with a twist, ever since.
  6. Ben plays a soloette guitar, also known as a wire frame travel guitar.KKphotography | Headshots | Boudoir| Glamor| Fashion. Check us out  at http://www.kevinkeliiphotography.com/ Or Call US At (813)362-8750 KKphotography.
  7. His set for the Tampa Bay Acoustic Music Festival included a mix of classical, pop, and tango covers including “Here Comes The Sun” and “Yesterday” by the Beatles, the “Game of Thrones” theme song, a Brazilian, Argentine and French tango and an incredible “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen to close out the set.
  8. Ben doesn’t write songs but has released a CD titled Commemoration.  It is a selection of the music he has performed during the 9/11 memorials and is a tribute to the survivors and victims’ of 9/11.
  9. Ben teaches at Polk State College and plays mostly private events.
  10. Ben has already been booked for Hard Rock Tampa’s Taste of Tuscany, a private event in the High Limit Slot Room that lasted the duration of the week.

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