Benjamin Pawlak is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied under Jonathan Feldman and Lydia Brown. A 2019 graduate of Texas Christian University, he received a masters of music in piano performance there while studying with John Owings, and holds bachelor of music in piano performance from Ithaca College where he studied with Vadim Serebryany, Jennifer Hayghe, and the late Greg DeTurck.  

At Juilliard, he performed as a member of the Juilliard Orchestra and AXIOM, and twice appeared in ChamberFest at Lincoln Center. During his time in New York City, Benjamin has also performed at David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center, and Carnegie Hall. Other appearances include Juilliard's Sonatenabend and Liederabend series. Since graduating, Benjamin plays as an additional keyboardist with the New York Philharmonic at their Lincoln Center home as well as on tour in the United States and Asia. He has also been a substitute with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. He was a semi-finalist for the Cleveland Orchestra's Principal Keyboard position in 2023. Benjamin has also been a featured musician in the Nashville Chamber Music Society's 2022 and 2023 seasons.

In addition to performing in New York City, Benjamin is also a class pianist at the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Ballet Tech, and at the Barnard College dance department.

In the summer of 2023 and 2021, Benjamin attended the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. There he was a collaborative piano fellow studying under Jonathan Feldman, Margaret McDonald, and Natasha Kislenko. At the 2018 Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Piobbico, Italy, he attended as a solo and chamber musician while studying with Catherine Lysinger, Read Gainsford, and Jennifer Hayghe. 

He has also attended Brevard Music Center's piano program in 2017, studying with Norman Krieger and Michael Chertock, and Credo Chamber Music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 2009-2015. 

Benjamin has made his professional concerto debut, playing the Liszt Concerto in E-flat with the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes in September 2016. His most recent appearance with the OSFL was in May 2023 where he closed their Schumann festival with Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto. 

Benjamin, a native of Big Flats, New York, lives in Manhattan where he works as a pianist and composer.