As an orchestral trombonist he has attended music festivals such as the National Orchestral Institute, Bar Harbor Brass Week, Chautaqua, Hot Springs, and Orford Arts institute. Benjamin was a featured artist at the inaugural Lake George Music festival where he performed in recital with Canadian pianist, Ronny Michael. An avid chamber musician, he is currently a member of the Yale Trombone Quartet and the Excalibur Brass Quintet. In addition to winning the prestigious Yale Chamber Music Competition, the Excalibur Brass Quintet was selected as the fellowship brass quintet at the 2011 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Norfolk, Connecticut.

A dedicated music educator, Benjamin works in the Yale Music in Schools Initiative as a teaching artist. Benjamin received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Performance and Education from the Crane School of Music, as an Adirondack Scholar. While at Crane he served as the assistant conductor to both the Crane Symphony Orchestra and Crane Contemporary Music Ensemble, studying conducting with Brian K. Doyle.

He founded the Aries Chamber Ensemble, a group with a wide palate of musical tastes with performances including everything from the baroque to world premiers of contemporary music. In spring 2010, he was awarded the SUNY Thayer Fellowship in the Arts. Additional studies include participation in conducting workshops at the University of Michigan and the The Juilliard School. His conducting mentors include Ransom Wilson and Toshiyuki Shimada. Upcoming engagements include a performance of Einojuhani Rautavaara's Angel of Dusk and the world premier of Justin Tierney's Blue Tigers.

Nathaniel has studied conducting both in the United States and abroad, participating in the New England Conservatory Conductor’s Forum, the International Institute for Conductors in Romania, and in conducting master classes at London’s Royal Academy of Music. His conducting mentors include Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Federico Cortese, conductor of the Boston Youth Symphony and Har-vard-Radcliff Orchestra, and James Sinclair, conductor of the Orchestra New England.

Nathaniel has had the wonderful opportunity to perform in some of the world’s renowned concert venues, from Boston’s Symphony Hall and Harvard’s Sanders Theater, to New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Leipzig Gewandhaus in Germany, and most recently, the National Opera House of Havana, Cuba. In 2005, he performed with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela as part of a musical exchange with the New England Conservatory. Nathaniel has studied trumpet with Allan Dean of the Yale School of Music, Albert DiPietro in Boston, former Metropolitan Opera trumpeter James Pandolfi, and Christopher Martin, principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony.

In the summer of 2010, Nathaniel studied at the Chosen Vale Center for Advanced Musical Studies, learning from renowned trumpet virtuosi Steven Burns, Håkan Hardenberger, Gabriele Cassone, Edward Carroll, Mark Gould, and Thomas Stevens. From 2005-2009, Nathaniel served as principal trumpet of the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 2006, he was the winner of the National Trumpet Competition and the International Trumpet Guild Youth Solo Competition. Nathaniel has also made solo appearances with the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston and been a prizewinner at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s concerto competition.