Ben Willmott joined the RIT College of Liberal Arts' Department of Performing Arts in January 2017 after spending over a decade in the music industry. Following his graduation from Ithaca College, where he earned a degree in Music (voice) and Business Administration, Ben returned to his home state of Massachusetts and was promoted to Lead Contract Administrator for the domestic booking division at Ted Kurland Associates in Boston; a music booking agency specializing in jazz and world music, representing artists including Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea, Bela Fleck, and Pat Metheny. In 2009, Ben began working at Wilkins Management, Inc., an entertainment management firm that oversees the careers of musicians including Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. There, Ben managed the worldwide performance bookings of Redman and Marsalis, as well as ticketing for Connick, Jr.'s concerts. He was also appointed co-manager of Marsalis Music in 2013, a boutique record label founded by Branford Marsalis, for which he coordinated the release of albums by the Branford Marsalis Quartet, The Marsalis Family, Harry Connick, Jr., and Miguel Zenon. In addition to Ben's experience as a professional in the music industry, he is a musician himself, having independently produced, recorded, and toured in support of two albums of pop-rock solo music and performing as a vocalist with choral ensembles in the Boston area including the MIT Meridian Singers and the Highland Glee Club of Newton. Since relocating to Rochester, Ben has become involved in many local organizations including Friends of Eastman Opera, Fort Hill Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, the Rochester Oratorio Society, as well as Lollypop Farm. At RIT, Ben oversees the Performing Arts facilities, supports the Applied Music studios and music ensembles, and coordinates the concerts and theatre productions presented by COLA's Department of Performing Arts. He also assists the newly formed Performing Arts Scholarship program at RIT.