A career in the performing arts is a skill mastered over a lifetime

Although music ran in his family and, it was a professional rock band performance early in his life that got Benedict to decisively choose music as a career. He acknowledges the importance of having connected with the right people at the right time to learn the art, as well as the great role his family had played in encouraging and steering him through the right channels.

He recalls the journey that took him step by step towards increased proficiencies of his skill. Unlike most others who first acquire college degrees to get started with their careers, Benedict chose to start working right away. He had modest beginnings in a hotel band- but that just got him more curious to learn. He says, “I used to listen to the tape recorder and write the scores. I learnt how to play music in a disciplined way, and my love towards Jazz and Latin music started from there.” He then formally enrolled at a reputed music school and found one of the “finest teachers and mentors” for himself, he recounts. He proudly remembers how the presence of his mentor soon got him to play with some of the finest international musicians and some prestigious events like one for the former President of India. Sharpening the saw is a lifetime activity when in a profession of performing arts. Competing with one’s own self, continuous learning and unending hours of practice is what it takes to master the art, he says.

Professions based in the arts go beyond making money. Benedict’s message to people making a choice to pursue their passion for any form of art as their profession is “Practice, practice, and practice will get you there. Focus on the art not on the money associated with it”.