Ben Larsen

Ben Larsen has been a fixture on the Portland music scene for nearly a decade.. Raised in New England (where his first instrument in grade three was the clarinet) and Jakarta, Indonesia, he moved to Portland in 2006 to attend Lewis and Clark College to study jazz guitar, Larsen's musical journey has not been a direct one. After two years studying jazz, he shifted his focus to the mandolin, concentrating on Bach violin sonatas and the choro music of Brazil's early 20th century. After graduating in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in mandolin performance, Larsen began to embed himself in the local folk and bluegrass scene.