Ben Clapton

Ben is a violinist, musician, teacher and composer who has performed around Australia. Ben has been Concertmaster with the Bendigo Symphony Orchestra, where he led performances at Ulumbarra Theatre and was Associate Concertmaster for a side by side concert with the BSO and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of MetSO, the Faith Court Orchestra, WA Youth Orchestra and WAYMA Philharmonic Orchestra.  

Ben has been a soloist with the Cradle Coast Chamber Orchestra, performing a selection from Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and has performed solo recitals in Perth as part of his studies at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, where he studied under Peter Tanfield, Rebecca White and Jacek Slawomirski.

Ben loves performing in the pit, having performed in amateur theatre productions of Spamalot, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Oklahoma!, Into the Woods, The Mikado and Princess Ida, as well as in the world premiere performance of Follow the Light. As part of his current role as a music teacher, he is developing a music theatre choir with the hopes of putting on his school’s first musical in the next few years.

Ben is also a member of Alternative Symphony - a group of musicians based around the world who put on symphonic renditions of contemporary artists such as Daft Punk, Dr Dre, the Notorious B.I.G. and 2pac.

As a composer and arranger, Ben has had his music performed around the world. His composition, Karrinyup Fanfare, was premiered by MetSO in 2023. One of his compositions was selected to be workshopped by members of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, and his arrangement of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” for solo violin has been performed in the US, UK, Australia, Jamaica, Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia.

2023 saw MetSO premiering a new work by Ben - Karrinyup Fanfare

Composed as a celebration of our return to MetSO’s Karrinyup Symphony roots.

Karrinyup Fanfare was premiered at our Young Artists Gala on Feb 26th at the Government House Ballroom, and was triumphantly encored at the Taryn Fiebig Concert Hall for our first full orchestral concert of the season on March 19th 2023.

Use the link below to view the video recording of Ben’s Karrinyup Fanfare on our MetSO Showcase page.