Benjamin Penwell
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music
Meet Professor Penwell
Years at Knox: 2025 to present
Dr. Benjamin Penwell's work incorporates traditional music production; experimental sound processing, coding, and novel control/live performance interfaces via Max/MSP; live electronics and amplified instruments; improvisation; ambient, noise, metal, and soundscape music; and nontraditional notation. His research interests include extreme metal, which was the basis for his 2025 dissertation "NO CLEAN SINGING" – The Exclusive or Predominant Use of Harsh Vocals as the Primary Unifying Musical Characteristic of Extreme Metal Genres.
Other research interests include extended instrumental technique, alternative tuning systems and just intonation, and the role of classical music in a post-classical world. Dr. Penwell is currently revising and recording his debut solo album, Weight, Light, and Majesty, which blends black metal, ambient music, post-rock, and post-classical music. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he has degrees from the University of Oregon (BMus in Composition, 2016), Boston University (MM in Composition and Music Theory, 2018), and Northwestern University (PhD in Composition and Music Technology, 2025).