Benjy Lee Springs
Mr. Springs graduated from UNC-Greensboro in 1981, and became the Director of Bands at Eastern Randolph High School in Ramseur, N.C. During his tenure at Eastern Randolph, he developed a well-rounded, award-winning band program that produced “Superior” ratings for 18 consecutive years, not only at concert band festivals, but marching and jazz festivals as well. Mr. Springs’s teaching inspired many students to later become outstanding music educators. He was nominated and elected statewide into the prestigious ASBDA (American School Band Directors Association) in 1998. He was also nominated and elected to become the Vice President of the North Carolina Chapter of IAJE (International Association of Jazz Educators) in 2000.
As a conductor, Mr. Springs led, along with his own high school Wind Ensemble, concert bands of all levels at the UNC-Greensboro Summer Music Camp for 12 years, numerous all-county bands as guest conductor, and is currently the Director of Bands at Greensboro College where he directs the Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, Brass Ensemble and Wind Ensemble. Mr. Springs continues to be active in our schools as a conductor/adjudicator and clinician. He was chosen to direct North Carolina’s first All-State Jazz Ensemble.
Mr. Springs is a very active professional musician. He was the lead trumpeter of the former U.S. Airways Jazz Orchestra, which traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe for concerts. Additionally, for 22 years, he has been a regular member of the NCJRO (North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra). Mr. Springs’ trumpet playing can be heard on NCJRO’s three compact disc recordings, as well as the PBS television production of “This is Jazz”, featuring the NCJRO.
He has played with the Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras, as well as numerous projects of other recording artists. Additionally, he has performed for commercials on television and radio as a studio musician. He has worked with the Guy Lombardo Orchestra, Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, and many other artists and entertainers such as: Tony Bennett, Frankie Valli, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Rosemary Clooney, Joe Williams, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Johnny Mathis, Eddie Daniels, Randy Brecker, The Spinners, The O-Jays, The Imperials, Lou Rawls, Linda Carter, Barbara Eden, Manhattan Transfer, Clark Terry, Marvin Stamn, Al Jarreau, Dionne Warwick, John Faddis, Terence Blanchard, the New York Voices, and many more!
Mr. Springs can also be heard on Nnenna Frelon’s Grammy-nominated Christmas CD with the John Brown Big Band. He is married to Barbara Parris Springs and is the proud father of three sons: Jacob, Jonah, and Noah.
