Dr. Ronda Benson Ford is currently instructor of flute at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia and at the Chattanooga Music Academy in Tennessee.
Dr. Ronda Benson Ford is currently an instructor of flute at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia and at the Chattanooga Music Academy in Tennessee. Ronda has performed with many orchestras and has toured with the International Flute Orchestra to Germany, Austria, Japan, Italy, Slovenia, and Hungary. She has performed at National Flute Association Conventions, Mid-South and Florida Flute Festivals, and College Music Society Regional Conferences. Ronda has been published in the peer reviewed journal The Flutist Quarterly and Flute Talk magazine. Her students have been members of All-State Bands in several states, Youth Orchestras in several states, and have received scholarships to study music in college. Ronda has performed in masterclasses for Lady Jeanne Galway, Nicola Mazzanti, Jim Walker, Marianne Gedigian, Göran Marcusson, Walfrid Kujala, Kathryn Lukas, Gary Schocker, and Louis Moyse. Ronda’s flute teachers include Elise Blatchford, Dr. John Bailey, Dr. Danilo Mezzadri, Kyril Magg, Alexander Murray, Max Schoenfeld, and Dr. Carolyn Brown. Ronda lives in Chattanooga, TN with her husband Brian and their two dogs Lily and Howie.
She has performed at National Flute Association Conventions, Regional Flute Festivals, and College Music Society regional conferences. Ronda was a participant in the Galway Flute Institute in the summer of 2021 where she performed in masterclasses for Lady Jeanne Galway and Nicola Mazzanti. She has also played in masterclasses for Göran Marcusson, Walfrid Kujala, Gary Schocker, and Louis Moyse.
Ronda collaborates with many other musicians and frequently performs compositions that were commissioned by her. Fuze Trio is a cutting-edge chamber music ensemble featuring Ronda Benson Ford, flute, Erika Schafer, trumpet, and Jenny Parker, piano. The group performs eclectic repertoire from commissioned world premieres and other modern compositions to arrangements of traditional classical music and popular music, including arrangements by group members themselves. The group had its inaugural performance at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in February 2018, premiering its first commission—Michael Broder’s Con ritmo. In January 2020 they were an Ensemble-in-Residence at East Carolina University as part of the North Carolina NewMusic Initiative. Other performances include the 2019 College Music Society South Central Conference at the University of Texas at Tyler and recitals throughout the Southeast. Ronda has taught a wide variety of classes including Flute Literature, Flute Choir, Music Theory I-IV, Music Theory for non-majors, Aural Skills I-IV, Music History, and Music Appreciation.
Her teachers include Dr. John Bailey, Dr. Danilo Mezzadri, Kyril Magg, Alexander Murray, Max Schoenfeld, and Dr. Carolyn Brown.