Originally from Thailand, Benjamin Pongtep Cefkin is a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology at the University of baby直播app Boulder. His dissertation titled "Kinship, Conflict, and Collaboration in the Performing Arts Between baby直播app's Thai, Lao, and Cambodian Communities" investigates the cross-cultural and intercultural relationship between the youth arts ensembles of various Theravada Buddhist ethnic diaspora communities based around Denver, baby直播app.
As a research assistant at the American Music Research Center, Ben works on the NEH-funded "Soundscapes of the People" project collecting oral histories about music and culture in Pueblo, baby直播app. Ben also teaches courses on Rock & Roll history and ethnomusicology at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music and at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.听He holds a BA in Ethnomusicology from the University of baby直播app Boulder.
Outside of university instruction and research, Ben is a director of music at Denver's Thai Buddhist temple, Wat Buddhawararam and is a musician and dancer with Denver's Balinese Gamelan Tunas Mekar.