BENJAMIN VELEZ
Biography
Benjamin Velez is a composer/lyricist and Columbia graduate (114th Varsity Show), born and raised in Miami, FL to a Colombian father and American mother. Proud member of the Advanced BMI workshop (2012 Harrington Award), his work has been at MTF, Ars Nova, NAMT, NEO, the Civilians, 4@15, and Joe’s Pub. He was a Sundance Artist at the UCROSS Foundation, and his musical AFTERLAND, written with Katie Hathaway, was developed at the Yale Institute for Music Theater and the York Theater.
He developed STARBLASTERS (also with Hathaway) at Dixon Place and will workshop it at Manhattan School of Music in 2021. His musical BORDERLINE, written with Aryanna Garber, won the 2018 Weston Playhouse New Musical Award, and opened the 2019 O’Neill Musical Theater Conference. He was a 2018-2019 Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow, the 2019 Fred Ebb Award Winner, a 2020 Thom Thomas Award winner, and a 2020 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient.
His musical KISS MY AZTEC, written with John Leguizamo, Tony Taccone, and David Kamp, had a reading at the Public Theater (2018), before premiering at Berkeley Rep (2019), followed by a run at the La Jolla Playhouse (2019).
Professional Experience
- Off Broadway
- Regional
- Concerts/Cabaret
- TV/Film
Regions
- NYC/Tri-State Area
Interested in touring?
- No
Hireable as
- Theatrical Composer (Music and Lyrics)
- Theatrical Composer (Music only)
- Theatrical Lyricist
Software
- Finale
- GarageBand
- Logic
- QLab
Affiliations
- ASCAP
- THE DRAMATISTS GUILD
Pronouns
- He/Him