The Hugh A. Glauser School of Music

Ben Ayling has been the choral music education specialist at Kent State since fall, 2002. He is sought after as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and speaker. His speaking engagements have sent him from coast to coast as well as New Zealand, Australia, and Russia. He has served as a clinician at music educator's conferences throughout the United Sates, Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia and Russia. With special interests in choral techniques and sight-singing, his research agenda includes the areas of pitch perception and cognition.
Dr. Ayling's choirs are consistently known for their high standards. His ensembles have toured throughout the Midwest and Eastern United States as well as Belgium and The Netherlands. He is the founder and conductor of the KSU Men's Chorus which debuted in the fall of 2002 and has served as the interim director of the KSU Chorale.
As a performer, Dr. Ayling sang bass in The Ritz, a world champion men's quartet that, along with having eight recordings to its credit, performed in 46 states, Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia and Russia. He is in demand as a speaker and conductor for music conferences and honor choirs around the world.
His debut as a conductor came at the age of 14. Since then, he has received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in music education from Bowling Green State University and his Ph. D. in music education from The Ohio State University, and has taught choral music for 20 years in the public schools. While at BGSU and OSU, he assisted with each institution's music education, men's chorus and conducting programs. Dr. Ayling lives in Kent, Ohio, with his wife, Mary Ann.