Ben Markley, a jazz pianist, has performed with Greg Osby, Eddie Henderson, Terell Stafford, George Garzone, and John Fedchock. Markley is active as a composer and arranger with several big band and vocal jazz charts published through UNC Jazz Press. Compositions from Markleyʼs first two albums have earned him ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Awards. Markley was selected to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program held at the Kennedy Center. Markley's book A Practical Approach to Improvisation - The David Hazeltine Method was published by Jamey Aebersold Jazz in December of 2014. It documents David Hazeltine's process of creating etudes from transcriptions. Markley is an active performer in the Denver-metropolitan area and along the front range. He can be seen regularly at in Ft. Collins as part of the Subterranean jazz trio at Ace Gillett's Lounge. Markley currently serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Wyoming where he directs and coaches the Wyoming Jazz Ensemble, Western Blue, and combos. He also teaches applied jazz piano, improvisation and is the director of the UW Jazz Festival.