Benjamin Creighton Griffiths is the Principal Harp of the Concert Orchestra de Cymru and Orchestra West and has performed as a concerto soloist with The Welsh Sinfonia, Concert Orchestra de Cymru, Llandenny Strings, Les Alizes, The Cardiff Philharmonic and the orchestra of Le Garde Républicaine. He has also worked as an orchestral musician with the Cardiff University Students Orchestra and the Chandos Symphony Orchestra.

He  released his first recording in 2003 – a CD single for BBC’s Children in Need called Ben Jamming.  Six years later he recorded Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” with the Girl Chorister’s of Llandaff Cathedral in aid of the Llandaff Cathedral Organ Appeal. In 2010 he released his DVD “L’Arpa in Villa” – a live recording of a concert he gave in Italy in 2009.

Whilst continuing his classical work, Ben is now in increasing demand for his jazz performances, working as both a soloist and with bands, singers, and other artists. His jazz repertoire covers all genres, including Swing, Latin, Funk, Electronic and Fusion, Gypsy, and more.

For his jazz concerts Ben performs using an Electric Harp, a Nord Stage 2 Keyboard Synth and numerous effects pedals.

Jazz Performances at International festivals include the Vale Jazz Festival, Cambridge Jazz Festival, Glasbury Arts Summer School, East Anglia Harp Festival, Harp on Wight, Wales International Harp Festival, The Edinburgh International Harp Festival, Cardiff Camac Harp Weekend, and wall2wall Jazz Festival in the UK and the Prague Harp Festival, Journées Internationales de la harpe dans la Caraïbe, The Dutch Harp Festival, Jazz Harp Academy, and the International Harp Festival of Sentmenat (Spain).

For the last two years he has also been teaching and leading a series of very successful ‘Introduction to Improvisation’ workshops as both one-off events and at Harp Festivals worldwide, aiming to encourage harpists of all ages and abilities into the world of jazz.

Ben has produced three jazz CDs so far. His first was “An incomplete A-Z of Jazz Harp Music” – released in May 2012. It featured a number of solo, acoustic jazz standards. Then, in 2015, he released “Pedals & Paws” – a CD that featured his first foray into the use of electronics in his jazz performances and also contains the titular jazz suite (Pedals & Paws) written by Ben.

His latest CD, “1 Man Band” is a further development of this work. Released in February 2017 it features Ben performing on Harp, Piano, and with synthesisers and keyboards. It is the repertoire on this CD that Ben will be performing during concerts in 2017 and 2018.