Ben Bell Bern was born and raised in Madison, WI, where he studied trumpet in high school with UW–Madison Emeritus Professor John Aley. Bell Bern received a degree in trumpet performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
For 14 seasons, Bell Bern worked backstage at Lyric Opera of Chicago–most recently as the Director of Company Management–supporting all facets of artistic, production, and technical operations. Additionally, he served as Rehearsal Department Director at The Santa Fe Opera for nine seasons, where he also played trumpet in the stage band. Bell Bern currently serves as the operations manager for the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Source: Mead Witter School of Music)