Ben Boone, is a composer/ jazz saxophonist / professor at California State University, Fresno where he teaches music theory and composition. His contemporary and classical compositions have been performed in 35 countries, appear on 28 recordings, and have been the subject of several National Public Radio and Bayerischer Rundfunk (German Radio) stories. He has also been awarded Fulbright Scholarships to Ireland, Ghana, and the Republic of Moldova. His ‘Origin Records’ album with U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine, “The Poetry of Jazz,” was hailed in literary and music journals as a historic recording, as well as being voted #3 “Best Album of 2018” (behind Chick Corea and Wynton Marsalis) in annual Reader’s Polls and has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” In addition, he was awarded #3 “Best Alto Saxophonist of 2020” in the 42nd Annual Jazz Station Awards, and his album with The Ghana Jazz Collective, Joy, was named #5 “Best Album of 2020” and #5 “Best Instrumental Group of 2020.”