Gateway Percussion Faculty: Benjamin Thia
Benjamin Thia is a degree graduate from LASALLE College of the Arts, majoring in Jazz Drums. He studied extensively under his mentors Chok Kerong, Wen Ming Soh , Eddie Layman and Darryl Ervin. Not wanting to limit himself to just the surface of jazz music, Benjamin dug into the history of it by being a member of the NEW STREAM Brass Band which draws it’s influence from the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans. While honing his craft and skills as a musician, he works as a music instructor, where he shares his passion for playing music with his students. As an aspiring musician, he is highly motivated and strives to improve his musicianship.
Benjamin’s forte lies in playing the drum kit. He is also an aspiring hand percussionist at the same time. Benjamin’s music journey started at the age of 12 in the St. Andrew’s Secondary School Band, where his talent and strong sense of commitment were recognized when he was named Section Leader and subsequently Band Major. Beyond the standard band repertoire, Benjamin continually exposes himself to other genres of music. After graduation he tutored and advised percussion sections of various schools. He also had the opportunity to play with the Singapore Philharmonic Winds in collaboration with the world-acclaimed Boston Brass.
Despite his hectic teaching schedule, Benjamin and his band participated in the highly televised Annual Band Competition organized by Singapore’s MediaCorp Studios. The band was crowned the top 5th in Singapore, out of the hundreds who auditioned for the Championship title. Although Benjamin graduated many years ago, his thirst to acquire new knowledge and skills continues to grow.
During his time in National Service, he was posted to the Singapore Police Force Band. He had the privilege of being part of the Police Combo and Quintet Band, performing for various high dignitaries functions and events.
He has been actively performing at festivals such as Sun Festival, Mosaic Music Festival and Sing Jazz Festival. He also played in various events such as National Day Parade, Zouk Out, Carnaval Carnaval, Singapore Youth Olympic games and various nightspots around Singapore. He also had the opportunity of being the drummer for musicals such as “Handful of Keys – Selections from Ain’t Misbehaving” and “The Boys From Syracuse, a 1930s Rodgers and Hart musical”. Additionally, he performed a drum set demonstration on Mediacorp’s OKTO Television.