Ben Stiers is Assistant Director of Bands at Illinois State University, where he directs the Pep Band and Drumline and serves as assistant director of the Big Red Marching Machine.  Prior to his time at ISU, he served as percussion instructor at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. In addition, he has served on the marching percussion faculty for the Music for All Summer Symposium and has been employed as a writer, arranger, instructor, and consultant for several high school percussion programs in Illinois, Nevada, and Kentucky.

Ben earned his DMA in Percussion Performance from the University of Kentucky, where he also received a certificate in music theory pedagogy. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and a Bachelor’s Degree from Illinois State University.  His teachers include James B. Campbell, Paul Deatherage, John Willmarth, Dean Gronemeier, Timothy Jones, David Collier, and Tom Marko.   

His performing experience includes extensive freelance work in the Las Vegas area, appearances with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Heartland Festival Orchestra, the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and performances abroad with chamber music ensembles in Australia and Taiwan.  He also served as the Vice President of the Kentucky chapter of the Percussive Arts Society from 2010-2011.