USC Grad Asked to Perform at the Cabaret at Theater Square Tuesday Night

Upper St. Clair graduate Benny Benack III will be performing at the Cabaret at Theater Square Tuesday night. 

"I'm excited to come home even though it's for a minute," Benack said.

Benack is finishing up his sophomore year at the Manhattan School of Music in the Upper West Side. 

Benack is a talented young trumpeter and singer who was asked to by the JazzLive series organizer to perform the first week of jazz appreciation month.

This year JazzLive is focusing on vocal stylings. A concert Benack played last summer with his father, Benny Benack II, caught the attention of the organizer, especially when he took the microphone to sing.

"My focus at school is on playing the trumpet," Benack said. "So it will be different, but I'm excited." 

Benack said he is lucky to come from a musical family. His grandfather, the late trumpeter Benny Benack, is known for creating the "Beat 'em Bucs" theme song for the Pirates' 1960 championship season.

"If the Pirates have another championship year, my dad swears the theme song might get us a gig, but it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon," Benack joked.

Benack's father is also a talented jazz musician who plays the saxophone and clarinet.

"The trumpet skipped a generation," Benack said.

Benack's parents gave him and his sister an early start in music.

"I remember driving to Squirrel Hill for piano lessons when I was five," Benack said.

In third grade, Benack got his hands on a trumpet, and told his parents they were wasting their money on piano lessons.

"The trumpet speaks to me," Benack explained. "The music I hear in my head is being portrayed through the trumpet."

In high school, Benack performed in the annual musicals. His shining year was his junior year, when he got to play Gene Kelly's character in "Singin' in the Rain."

All four years, Benack also played in the jazz band and wind orchestra. He credits the high school's music department, especially Mr. Frank Eisenreich, for helping him become the musician he is today.

"I was fortunate I went to Upper St. Clair because of the opportunities I got through the school," Benack said. "The teachers were so great and it was always totally professional. 

"Nothing caught me by surprise when I came to college. The high school helped prepare me for what I had ahead. I'm thankful for that."

The high school teachers encourage the students to take part in summer music programs and camps. Benack said a lot of the musicians he met over the summers, who are now his lifelong friends, are studying at other musical schools in New York.

"New York is the mecca for jazz," Benack said. 

Benack is bringing back some of those friends to perform with him tonight.

"It's great because they're my friends and we get to play together," Benack said. "I get to take them back to Pittsburgh to show them off."

Some tickets are still available for Tuesday night's show. Click here for more information on Benny III & Friends: The Next Big Thing, and see the Upper St. Clair graduate who is making it big in the jazz world.