Sedric R. Benson

Sedric Benson, a prize-winning violinist, has performed as a soloist with and concert master in several orchestras.  Although presently employed by a software company, he is still active as a violinist.

Sedric was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and grew up in Angwin, California, one of two children of missionary parents Verlyn and Anita Benson, coming to the U.S. when he was eighteen months old. Both parents were active as singers and encouraged him and his sister, Genaida, to start music lessons at an early age.  

He started studying violin in California at age three and a half, taking lessons with Ivlyn Trevor and LeRoy Peterson.  When Sedric joined the Pacific Union College orchestra at age eleven, he was its youngest player. He attended boarding school in British Columbia, Canada, where he took lessons with Suzan Schaffer and served as concertmaster of the Fountainview Strings orchestra for three years.

During that time, he toured widely with the ensemble as concertmaster and soloist in Alberta, Guatemala, and the Ukraine. He subsequently toured with orchestras as a soloist in Norway, Russia, South Africa, and France. In those years, he played for some well-known artists such as Kyoko Takezawa and Guillaume Tardif.

Benson won the Young Artist competition at Andrews University in 2006 and placed fourth in the Andrews University International Music Competition (strings) in 2009. While a student at AU, he studied violin with Carla Trynchuk and served as concertmaster of the AU Orchestra and Sinfonietta.  He graduated from AU with a B.Mus. in violin performance in 2009. He now works in a software company in Anacortes, Washington, and plays violin as a hobby.

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Sources: Information provided by Sedric Benson, January 2014; AU Music Department Grace Notes newsletter, March 2009; Genaida Benson biography, iamaonline.com; Other online sources.