Ben Willmott
Director of Operations
Ben Willmott
Director of Operations
Bio
Ben Willmott joined the School 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 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 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 performing arts facilities, coordinates concerts and productions presented by the School of Performing Arts, and supports various curricular and extracurricular aspects of the campus-wide performing arts ecosystem. Ben earned a Master of Science in Service Leadership and Innovation from Saunders College of Business in 2022, which culminated in a qualitative research study examining student experiences in RIT's Performing Arts Scholarship Program.
In the News
-
April 22, 2024
![The SHED is shown in the background as students mill about the outside area and walk past it.]()
The SHED marks its Imagine RIT debut April 27
The SHED, touted as the new heartbeat of campus, makes its Imagine RIT debut this year. This multi-use facility embodies RIT's blend of technology, the arts, and design, offering a vibrant hub for creativity, interdisciplinary learning, and innovative performances year-round.
-
April 15, 2024
![a poster with dark pastel colors is shown with earth in the background and the silhouette of a mans face entering the frame from the left.]()
RIT Singers team up with Madrigalia and RIT exhibitors
The RIT Singers will join members of the local singing group Madrigalia to present a concert dedicated to protecting and sustaining the Earth, and revitalizing nature. Formed in 1975, the chamber choir has collaborated with local and international audiences as well as premiering new works.
-
November 27, 2023
![a couple stand in a lobby area outside of the Sklarsky Glass Box Theater.]()
RIT’s new Sklarsky Glass Box Theater welcomes first audiences this weekend
The inaugural production in the newest building on the RIT campus, AstroDance II: Across the Universe, premieres Dec. 1 to 3, featuring a variety of dance, aerial and circus arts, and augmented reality, which will be presented in the new state-of-the-art Sklarsky Glass Box Theater.
