Benjamin Montes is a Miami-born composer and media scorer studying at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, where he majors in Media Scoring and Production under Emmy- and Grammy-winning composer Carlos Rafael Rivera, and pursues a minor in Music Theory and Composition under Rome Prize–winning composer Charles Norman Mason.
Early Life
Born in 2006, Montes developed perfect pitch before the age of two and taught himself to play piano melodies as a toddler. He received his first acoustic piano at four, entering the world of classical music and winning prizes in Florida young arts competitions. That same year he wrote his first original composition, The Wedding Song, which earned him a best original composition award in 2010.
Giselle Brodsky & the Miami International Piano Festival Academy
A pivotal figure in Montes's development has been Giselle Brodsky, founder of the Miami International Piano Festival Academy, who has been his piano teacher since the age of thirteen. Beyond her direct instruction, Brodsky has served as a connective force in his musical education—introducing him to many of the influential teachers and mentors who shaped his path in both composition and piano performance. Her guidance and the network she opened to him have been central to who he has become as a musician.
Becoming a Composer
By twelve, Montes had shifted his focus from performance to composition, producing four works in 2018 alone—including a String Orchestra piece and a three-movement Fantasia for piano. His 2019 piano sonatina Waterwheel and his 2021 solo A Song of a Thunderstorm both reached international streaming platforms. In 2022 he released his debut album The Songwriter's Journal, earning his first breakout track, Psychopath. That same year he began private composition study with Charles Norman Mason.
Film & Media Scoring
Montes's path toward film music crystallized after encountering Thomas Newman's score to Skyfall. Since then he has studied the craft and history of film composition extensively, with a particular interest in how music evolves across genre. Accepted to Frost in 2024, he now trains under Carlos Rafael Rivera on music for picture.
Extrapolative Minimalism
Montes's concert work is defined by a compositional method he calls extrapolative minimalism—the construction of large-scale works through the deconstruction, repetition, and expansion of small harmonic cells. His piece prismAtic, praised by both Mason and Grammy-winning professor Lansing McLoskey, is a key example of the style. The approach draws deeply from Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, which Montes cites as his greatest musical influence.