Dr. Al Benner
Music Instructor

[Theory, Composition, Instrumental, Ensembles, Piano]

Philosophy Instructor
[Philosophy, Ethics]

Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts
Room P109A [Prudhomme Hall]
318-357-3231
ABenner@lsmsa.edu

Office Hours
MW 10-11:00, 2-3:00; T 8-9:30, 1:30-3:00; F 10-11:00

Guided Study
MWF 1-2:00

For a listing of performances of my music in 2009, please click here.

To visit my favorite LSMSA Instructor, please click here.


 

Life Philosophy
Do what is right even if it is unpopular.
Take responsibility for your actions.
Don't let others think for you.
There is always a choice.
Be true to yourself.

“Excellence is not an action, but a habit.”
--Aristotle

"To educate a person in intelligence but not in character is a crime to the human spirit."
--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.  Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world."
--Dr. Albert Einstein

“In God We Trust”
--George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan


 

Courses offered for Fall 2009
Click courses to see the current syllabi.

Fundamentals of Music
MU 101– MWF 8:00 – Room A206

Beg. Piano Class I
MU 101 - MWF 9:00 – Room A211

Music Composition
MU 213 – TBA – Room A215

Chamber Ensemble
MU 254 – TR 12:15 – Room A209

Wind Ensemble
MU 254B – MWF 11:00 – A209

Adv. Music Theory I
MU 301 – MWF 2:00 – Room A215

 

To see past courses taught at LSMSA and last semester’s syllabi, please click here.  To see projected courses for the 2009-10 school term, please click here

 

For a description of the Philosophy courses and the Music Theory and Composition courses I teach, please click here.

 

Stomper; Aftershock; R&J; Elijah Rock; RTDD


  

2008-09 National or Regional Conferences Invites

LMTA Conference

Oct. 23-25, 2008

Centenary College

Shreveport, LA

Office Held: Board Member; Commissioning Chair

 

NACUSA National Conference

May 20-21, 2008

Dallas, TX

Office Held: National Advisory Council; ComposerUSA Editor

 

Past and Future Visions (1991)

for violin and piano

Karen Lim, violin; Luca Bruno, piano

Eisemann Center for Performing Arts; Dallas, TX

 

To see past conference invites, please click here.

 

 

 

Special Performances and Commissions

Performances

Psalm 117 (2007)

for SATB choir and piano

Red River Chorale; Alexandria, LA;
Fred Graham, director

October 18, 2007

 

 

 

Changes (1990)

for woodwind septet

(flute, oboe, English horn,

2 clarinets, bassoon, contrabassoon)

Louisiana Sinfonietta; Baton Rouge, LA;
Dinos Constantinides, director

December 9, 2007

 

 

 

Illumination (1991)

for string orchestra

(Louisiana Sinfonietta Tenth Anniversary Commission)

Premiered January 12, 1992

 

February 5, 2006

A Concert of Distinguished Alumni Composers

Louisiana Sinfonietta; Baton Rouge, LA;
Dinos Constantinides, director

The LSU 61st Festival of Contemporary Music

 

 

L to R: Dr. David Penri-Evans, Dr. Stephen Lias,
Dr. Dinos Constantinides, Dr. Vernon Taranto, Jr., and Dr. B

 

Commissions

Louisiana Music Teachers Association

the 2009 LMTA Commissioning Composers Award for a piano duet to be premiered at the 2009 LMTA Conference in Lafayette, LA in October.

 

Carson Cooman

[organist and coordinator, Harvard's Memorial Church]

to write a new sacred motet (an anthem for 4-part SATB choir) for the Choral Fellows ensemble of the Harvard University (a select 16-person professional choir) for use at daily worship services and other events for which the

ensemble sings.

 

David Winograd

to write an arrangement for the Hudson Valley Brass Quintet of Handel’s “March” from the Occasional Oratorio to be played at the graduation ceremonies of the State University of New York at New Paltz on May 19 & 24, 2006 and at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY on May 28, 2006.

 

MIDI realization 

Louisiana Sunshine (2004)
for orchestra

Theme and Variations based upon

You Are My Sunshine

by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell

© 2004 by Peer International Corp.

 

Commissioned collaboratively by Louisiana's seven professional orchestras through the Louisiana Association of Symphony Orchestras (LASO).

 

MIDI realization

 

Young People’s Discovery Concert Series

“One Louisiana—One Song”

Shreveport Symphony Orchestra

Kermit Poling, conductor; Shreveport Civic Theatre

[Jan. 26, 2005; 9:30 am; Jan. 27-28, 2005; 9:30 & 11:00 am]

Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra

William Kushner, conductor; Rosa Hart Theatre

[April 10, 2005; 3:00pm]

Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra

Stuart Chafetz, guest conductor; Baton Rouge River Civic Theatre

[April 11-13, 2005; 9:30 & 11:00 am]

[April 12, 2005; 11:00 am—Carnegie Hall’s LinkUP! Program]

Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

Stu Chafetz, conductor

[April 6, 2005; Greater Covington Center , 9:30 & 11am]

[April 26, 2005; Mahalia Jackson Theatre, 10 am]

[April 28, 2005; Slidell Municipal Auditorium, 9:30 & 11:00 am]

[May 4, 2005; Pontchartrain Center, 10:00 am]

[May 5, 2005; St. Bernard Civic Center, 10:00 am]

Monroe Symphony Orchestra

Myron Turner, conductor; Neville High School

“Sound Safari”

[May 11, 2005; 10:00 am & 1:00 pm]

Rapides Symphony Orchestra

Side-by-Side Educational Concert

Joshua Zona, conductor;  Coughlin Saunders Performing Art Center

[April 24, 2006; 9:30 am]

Acadiana Symphony Orchestra

 

Radio Broadcasts

September 21, 2008

WRKF, 89.3 FM, public radio

 

Changes (1990)

for woodwind septet

Louisiana Sinfonietta Winds; Baton Rouge, LA;
Dinos Constantinides, director


 

The LSMSA Chamber and String Ensembles are treated as professional performing groups.  Consequently, inclusion in these groups is by audition only.  The Wind Ensemble is by Instructor approval.  For details about the different LSMSA Ensembles, please contact Dr. Benner.  For more information about the LSMSA Music Ensembles and/or other instrumental performing group opportunities at LSMSA, please click here.   There will be a small Chamber Ensemble concert March 18, 6:15pm in Treen Auditorium.  The main Chamber and Wind Ensemble concert this Spring will be on May 10 at 2pm in Magale Recital Hall on the NSU campus.  Please check back for further details.

Past concerts for Chamber, Wind and String Ensembles
Additional Concert Opportunities provided for LSMSA students
LSMSA Ensembles Original Compositions, Arrangements, and Transpositions

LSMSA's All-State and District II Ensemble Members
Composition Opportunities provided for LSMSA students
Ensemble Concert Invitations
Past Student Assistants to the Chamber/Wind Ensemble Director


 

Individual Student Recitals

Major Instrumental, Composition and Piano Students

Click here to see past recital programs.

 

At times, various students of Dr. Al Benner give a Junior or Senior Recital.  For the 2008-09 school year, there will be a Senior Recital of Phillip Larroque (oboe), May 2, 7:00pm, in Treen Auditorium on the LSMSA campus.  Check back here during the year for further details. 


 

Distinction Projects

To see past abstracts of completed distinction projects, please click here.

 

At times, various students of Dr. Al Benner complete the requirements to graduate with distinction.  This is a rare occurrence for usually no more than about a dozen students a year complete this process throughout all the disciplines.


 

Louisiana Composers' Consortium

Total Concerts performed so far: 35

The goal of the LCC is to promote Louisiana talent throughout the state by playing works of living Louisiana composers and other guest composers who are significant figures in 20th century music.  The LCC, which was founded in 1999 by Dr. Al Benner, also promotes current and recent Louisiana School faculty, students, and alumni.  It is a way of not only giving something back to the Natchitoches and surrounding communities, but also to present fresh music and to show that contemporary music can also be fun to hear.  To learn more about the LCC or to see past concerts, please click here.

 

The next LCC concert is scheduled for the Fall in Natchitoches.  Please check back for future details.


 

Learn more about me

Short Bio

Curriculum Vitae

What People are Saying

Known Performances

Known Music in Academic Libraries

"Point of View" Columns

 

For some little known facts about Dr. Benner, click here.


 

Family Photos

 

 

BoysChristmas12-24-08.jpg                     Family_Star_Wars_10-27-08.jpg

                              Albert and Nicholas                                                 Family Star Wars