An Evening With Ben Cosgrove

The BMC presents “An Evening With Ben Cosgrove” on Friday, May 29 at 7 p.m. The concert will feature the traveling pianist-composer-performer whose music explores themes of landscape, place, and environment. The Boston Globe has described Cosgrove as “a sonic plein-air painter… [using] his piano as a paintbrush.”

Over the last year, Cosgrove has collaborated with the BMC and The Landmark Trust USA to compose new works inspired by southern Vermont landscapes. One of these pieces, reflecting the BMC’s setting along Whetstone Brook, will premiere at this concert. A second Cosgrove composition, based on the setting of the Landmark Trust’s Dutton Farmhouse and environs including Scott Farm Orchard, will also be included in this performance. Following the concert, the audience will be able to enjoy a display of images of the Dutton Farmhouse landscape. The BMC is grateful to the Windham Foundation for helping to support Cosgrove’s work on these compositions.

He has performed in every U.S. state save one, working with groups ranging from rock bands to research scientists, contributing music to several radio and film projects, including the recent Ken Burns documentary “The American Buffalo.” He has held residencies and fellowships with institutions including NASA, Acadia National Park, White Mountain National Forest, Isle Royale National Park, Harvard University, Middlebury College, the New England National Scenic Trail, the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge, the Connecticut River Museum, and the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology.

His music has been called “beautiful and fascinating” (The Maine Edge), “deeply impressive” (Independent Clauses), and “evocative and fully arresting… brim[ming] with technical mastery and emotions” (Seven Days). His latest album, “Topograph,” a collection of 16 new pieces inspired by land-shaping processes around the country, was released earlier this year.