 Ben
Pugsley grew up in Farnham, Surrey and started learning to play the
guitar at the age of 12. His first classical guitar teacher was Surrey based
musician Richard Veitch. Having reached Grade 8 at the age of 16, he then
studied music at 'A' level and went on to study classical guitar at the
Royal College of Music (RCM) with both Carlos Bonell and Gary Ryan. In his
first term at the RCM Ben won the Peter Pears Duo prize with singer Mark
Chaundy. After gaining a Diploma of Higher Education from the RCM and
attending masterclasses with Fabio Zanon, Ben Verdery and Adrian Walters,
Ben auditioned to be lead guitarist in a new 8 piece classical crossover
group called 'The Planets'.As well as all over the UK the group performed in Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Monaco, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia. They also supported (to high acclaim) rock legends Deep Purple on the UK and Germany legs of their 2002-2003 world tour. They performed live at the Classical Brit Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall, The Queens Golden Jubilee classical concert held at Buckingham Palace and on countless TV and radio programmes in the UK and abroad including Children in Need, This Morning and The Generation Game. |
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| Ben's audition was successful and they gave
their debut concert at 'The Royal Festival Hall' on the 13th September 2001
with Ben playing classical, flamenco, acoustic and electric guitars. The
debut album (released under EMI Classics/Dramatico) was entitled 'Classical
Graffiti' and went straight to number one in the UK classical charts, where
it stayed for over 12 weeks. Over the next few years over 200,000 copies were sold worldwide and the album continues to sell
today. Pictured right, performing live at The Albert Hall. Is Ben has supported many charities from the local charities such as Fosta and the Rotary Clubs, to then July 2003 the band, all talented musicians, decided to go their own ways and pursue their individual careers. As a solo artist Ben has performed at the Ritz Hotel London, The FHM Menswear awards (held at The Natural History Museum), The Stafford Hotel London and has accompanied singing superstar Andrea Bocelli on two occasions. Ben is also featured on singer/songwriter Michael Kruk’s debut EP entitled ‘Playing for Kisses' and continues to work with Michael Kruk on his forth-coming album. Over the year international organisations such as HOPE HIV, Oxfam, Christian Aid and Arthritus Research. |
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| September 2004 sees the re-release of Ben’s first solo album entitled ‘Sat Where the Castle Stood’ (originally titled ‘En Route’), which is being re-released due to phenomenal public demand. ‘Sat Where the Castle Stood’ contains 12 original tracks written by Ben at the age of 18. A second solo album will be recorded over the coming months, which will be a collection of Ben’s favourite classical pieces including Ben’s joint composition with Michael Kruk ‘Taranta Y Rumba’ which has proved so popular with audiences around the world. | |