Dr. Benjamin A. Charles serves as the Assistant Professor of Percussion at Tarleton State University, where his duties include teaching percussion lessons and percussion methods, as well as directing the TSU Percussion Ensemble and The Sound & The Fury Drumline. Dr. Charles also maintains an online presence as a co-host on the @ Percussion podcast, a weekly hour-long program featuring distinguished musical guests.

A versatile performer, Dr. Charles’s experience spans many musical genres, including avant-garde solo percussion works, orchestral percussion, chamber music, Indonesian gamelan, and percussion ensemble. He was featured as a showcase performer at the 2009 and 2011 Percussive Arts Society International Conventions (PASIC). Additionally, he has been featured as a concerto soloist at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts as well as at the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Conference in Jacksonville. Most recently, he was featured as a soloist with duo partner Kathryn Burns, performing Keiko Abe’s double marimba concerto, Prism Rhapsody II.

As an advocate for contemporary music, Dr. Charles has championed new works for percussion. He has been actively involved in procuring new works by commissioning such prominent composers such as Mark Applebaum, Thomas Sleeper, and Alejandro Vinao. Dr. Charles is a member of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS). He is an artist/endorser for Remo drumheads and Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets.