Benjamin Emory Larson is a senior at PSU, and he will be graduating this summer with a B.A. in Theater Arts. Some of his past diversions include baseball, hockey, acting, directing, clarinet, singing, and piano. Ben is influenced heavily by the music of Tchaikovsky, as well as Chopin, Saint-Saens, Debussy, and Stravinsky. Most of his compositions are solo piano, piano and voice, or chamber pieces, and Maelstrom is by far his most ambitious effort to date, both musically and dramatically. Tom Stoppard, Craig Wright, and the inevitable Shakespeare are a few of the playwrights that have contributed to his scriptwriting. He would like to express special thanks to Bonnie Miksch and Glen York for their relentless encouragement and invaluable input over the last year; as well as to his parents, without whom none of this would have been possible. And finally to Reed, for letting me tag along for the ride.