Benjamin Faugstad directs the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Drumline, and Chamber Orchestra. In addition to the ensembles, he also teaches Music Skills, Conducting, Instrumental Pedagogy, Jazz Improvisation, and individual percussion, guitar, conducting, and composition lessons. He performed on drum set for several years with the Blue River Combo and continues to perform on guitar with the GBK Trio.
Faugstad earned a bachelor of arts in music from Bethany in 2007. After receiving his music licensure at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSUM) in 2009, he taught at Lake Mills Community School in Lake Mills, Iowa. He completed his graduate degree from MSUM in 2018.
Faugstad has arranged a number of selections for concert band, pep band, percussion ensemble, drumline, and piano, including several works published with Veritas Musica Publishing. His string orchestra composition, “Joy to the World,” was recently performed at several concerts in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. He is currently working on a beginning drum set method and composition guide. Faugstad lives in Mankato, Minnesota, with his wife and four children.