Profile for

Ben Carlee, DMA

Interim Instructor of Music in Flute

Dr. Ben Carlee is a Chicano flutist, educator, and arts entrepreneur from San Antonio, Texas. An active performer, clinician, and adjudicator, he has appeared at numerous National Flute Association Conventions, the Wisconsin and Chicago Flute Festivals, Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, and North American Conference on Video Game Music. He has performed as Guest Principal Flutist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and with the Irving and Sherman Symphony Orchestras and Symphony Viva (TX).

Committed to expanding the flute repertoire and amplifying Mexican and Chican@ voices and video game music, Dr. Carlee commissioned and premiered Jorge Sosa's Sones para Flauta y Mariachi, the first concerto for flute and mariachi, with UTSA's Mariachi Los Paisanos at the 2024 National Flute Association Convention. His forthcoming Centaur Records album, Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá: Flute Music by Mexican and Chican@ Composers, highlights Mexican, Chican@, and queer voices. He also premiered Dr. Thomas Yee's Fantasy for Flute and Game Boy at the North American Conference on Video Game Music. His research interests include vocal pedagogy for flutists, nineteenth-century Mexican flute music, and ludomusicology.

Dr. Carlee is founder and Executive Artistic Director of the Madison Gamer Symphony Orchestra, a prizewinner in the 2024 UW–Madison Arts Business Competition that has received local and national recognition, including from the League of American Orchestras. His leadership and mentorship include the National Flute Association's Emerging Artist Program, UW–Madison's DEIB Festival, and Overture Center for the Arts' ACES program, where he mentored K–12 students from underrepresented backgrounds interested in pursuing careers in the arts. He has adjudicated for TMEA, ATSSB, the National Flute Association, Texas Flute Society, and Wisconsin Flute Festival.

Dr. Carlee holds degrees from the University of Texas at San Antonio, East Texas A&M University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied with Dr. Conor Nelson as an Advanced Opportunity Fellow in the Mead Witter School of Music. He currently serves as Instructor of Flute at East Texas A&M University.

Educational Background

• DMA, Flute Performance, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2025
• M.M., Flute Performance, East Texas A&M University, 2022
• B.M., Flute Performance, University of Texas at San Antonio, 2020

Professional OrganiZATIONs

• National Flute Association
• Kappa Kappa Psi

Honors and Awards

1. Advanced Opportunity Fellowship (AOF), University of Wisconsin–Madison
2. Prizewinner, University of Wisconsin–Madison Arts Business Competition, 2024
3. Mead Witter School of Music Graduate Grant
4. University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of the Arts Student Artivism Grant
5. University of Wisconsin–Madison Latin American Studies Grant
6. University of Wisconsin–Madison Student Research Grant
7. Selected Graduate Commencement Speaker, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2025
8. Centaur Records Recording Artist — Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá: Flute Music by Mexican and Chican@ Composers

Selected Publications

1. Carlee, Ben. Performance Notes for Dominic Valadez's Violet Ridge for Flute and Piano. ALRY Publications/United Music and Media Publishers.
2. Carlee, Ben. “Enhance Your Sound with Color and Connection.” Texas Flute Society, 2021.