Benjamin Whitten endowment established - Foundation News - Music Teachers National Association

American Music Teacher, Dec, 2002

The MTNA FOUNDATION is pleased to announce the establishment of the Benjamin Whitten Endowment Fund. Since 1968, Ben has been an integral part of the local, state and national levels of MTNA. He served as president of Pennsylvania MTA for four years and is presently Delaware State MTA treasurer. He has been named Teacher of the Year by both the Pennsylvania and Delaware state associations several times, and he has served the FOUNDATION as trustee and member of the Advisory Council.

Ben's interest in local Music Teachers Associations has been expressed continually by his serious dedication to their visibility in the national organization. He was the inspiration for the FOUNDATION'S Local Association Matching Grant program and served as chair of the first grant evaluation committee in 1993. His continuing devotion to the local association as a source of strength for MTNA led to the establishment of the Whitten Endowment Fund. This fund will support projects and awards designed to assist locals.

Professor emeritus at West Chester University and adjunct professor of piano at Elizabethtown College, both in Pennsylvania, Ben also is a member of the artist faculty of the Wilmington Music School in Delaware. He has taught at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and at the Loire Valley Music Institute in France.

A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, his primary teachers were Austin Conradi and Leon Fleisher. He has been awarded performance prizes and scholarships and has performed extensively in Europe, South America, Canada and the United States.