Benjamin Hunter – Musician Who Uses Music to Build Space For Others

Benjamin Hunter is an internationally acclaimed musician who uses music to foster community building. He founded Community Arts Create, serves on the Seattle Music Commission, and co-founded Black & Tan Hall.

He is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, community activist, social entrepreneur, and artistic director for Northwest Folklife.

Early Life and Education

Benjamin Hunter is a multi-instrumentalist and composer whose music explores the intersections between art, community and policy. Together with Joe Seamons, his compositions have won multiple competitions such as International Blues Competition as well as being featured in critically acclaimed productions like Black Bois.

At 14 he began writing songs, quickly discovering his talent for harmonizing naturally. Although he tried writing them on piano it proved both difficult and time consuming.

He has served as Head of School at Ermitage International School of France since 2009 and holds a Masters in Educational Leadership and Management from University of Bath, England. Additionally, he is an experienced IBDP Coordinator as well as Round Square Representative of European Region.

Professional Career

Ben Hunter is the CEO and co-founder of Pine Energy, a privately-held oil and gas company focused on unconventional development of Texas Haynesville and Bossier shale formations. Before founding Pine, Hunter worked for Dallas-based Covey Park Energy as one of its predecessor companies.

He has an exceptional record in leading teams and training top performing sales professionals, passionately creating value with every endeavor he undertakes.

Growing up watching Ben Hunter’s Afternoon Matinee was always enjoyable, so speaking with him personally was truly rewarding. Recently I thought back on it again and decided to search Amazon for copies. To my delight they did indeed carry it and so I made the purchase.

Achievement and Honors

Ben Hunter is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist who plays violin, mandolin, guitar, percussion and voice with equal ease across classical to jazz and blues musical genres. As an educator his work explores the intersection between art, community and policy – founding board member of Seattle’s pilot BASE program and serving on Seattle Music Commission are just a few examples of his expertise.

He received his commission into the Infantry Branch in October 2009. His first assignment was with 4th Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment as Stryker Platoon Leader and Recon Platoon Leader.

Ben currently serves as Indiana University’s Superintendent for Public Safety where he manages strategy, policy and implementation in multiple areas that ensure adequate levels of assurance in areas such as emergency preparedness and response, university law enforcement, community relations and campus security – including overseeing its police academy.

Personal Life

Hunter’s violin playing has taken him across genres and around the globe, but his real passion lies in creating community among musicians. To this end he actively seeks out jam sessions and cultural exchanges such as Wa Na Wari in Central District home-turned-arts space in DC; connecting with blues players; ragtime musicians; traditional jazzers.

Northwest Folklife Artistic Director Richard Barone also employs this sense of stewardship in his artistic direction role at Northwest Folklife. He seeks to move the organization away from being associated with white hippie stereotypes and foster a more diverse creative ecosystem in Seattle. Barone also pushes for an expanded definition of folk that encompasses more genres and communities; his efforts have created spaces in which diverse groups come together in pursuit of building stronger societies.

Net Worth

Ben Hunter is an extremely successful Soccer Player who reportedly holds an estimated net worth of over $16 Million.

Michael often refers to Zen Ben as a peaceful, tranquil individual who rarely gets angry or upset and rarely shows much emotion. Adherence to Buddhist ideals and advocacy of living in the moment are part of his DNA; hence the nickname.

Ben and Michael become legal guardians of Hunter after his unfit mother makes attempts to find them. They move into a traditional neighborhood where they reside peacefully until Hunter’s HIV status becomes public knowledge at school and he decides to leave home.

Ben has spent several years working for various oil and gas companies, most notably Pine Wave Energy Partners LLC as its current CEO, which specializes in unconventional development in East Texas and Haynesville Shale.