Ben Haugland

An accomplished and experienced musician, Dr. Ben Haugland has a history of musical distinction. In August 2012, he completed a Doctor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado and is a recipient of nine DownBeat awards, including “Best Instrumental Jazz Soloist.” As a master's student at the University of North Texas, he played and toured with the world renowned UNT One O'Clock Lab Band and is a featured soloist on their album Lab 2009, whichreceived a Grammy nomination for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album."

An avid composer, one of Haugland's compositions, “Lift,” won a DownBeat award for “Best Original Song.” In April 2012, Haugland released his debut album Point of No Return featuring NYC alto saxophonist Dick Oatts and bassist Jay Anderson. Through the efforts of the Dazzle record label, his album has received national radio airplay and was ranked on the jazz charts by jazzweek.com.

In April 2015, Haugland released his second commercially-released album as a leader, A Million Dreams, featuring internationally renowned jazz trumpeter Scott Wendholt and Grammy award-winning bassist Jay Anderson, and in 2015, the album was ranked on the JazzWeek national radio charts for twenty-one consecutive weeks peaking at the sixty-fourth position out of one thousand new releases. The album also received a jazz review in "All About Jazz" from New Jersey jazz critic David Orthmann who rated the album four-and-one-half out of five stars stating, "A Million Dreams is a confluence of excellent original compositions, empathetic ensemble playing and group interplay, as well as memorable solo statements. Highly recommended."

In February 2018, Haugland's book entitled The Mulgrew Miller Collection was published by Jamey Aebersold Jazz who is widely considered the leading publisher of jazz education materials. The book represents an important style study of iconic jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller, which has become a best-seller for the publisher and represents an important resource used in jazz pedagogy.

Haugland has also played in professional and academic settings with several prominent jazz artists including Randy Brecker, Terell Stafford, Greg Gisbert, Snooky Young, Chris Potter, Dave Pietro, Dick Oatts, Tim Warfield, Donny McCaslin, Jeff Coffin,Bob Mintzer, Steve Davis, Curtis Fuller, Jay Anderson, Chuck Berghofer, Jay Leonhardt, Billy Hart, Jeff Hamilton, Adonis Rose, Ed Soph, and John Riley.