Ben earned his solo Diploma in trombone cum laude in 1980 at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. In 1976, he was appointed to the bass trombone position in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and after 23 years with the N.R.P.O., Ben joined the Rotterdam Philharmonic as bass trombonist and retired in November 2021 Ben is professor at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague. He was invited as teacher and soloist to the International Trombone Festivals in Detmold (Germany) in 1992, in Cleveland (USA) in 1994, in Utrecht (Holland) in 2000, in Denton (USA) in 2002, Birmingham (UK) in 2006 and in Austin (USA) in 2010. Ben has also given master classes and recitals in Korea, Japan, Greece, Hungary, Sweden, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, the USA and other countries. He has released 7 solo albums and Ben’s favorite release is his 6th album, “Brisas Andaluzas” with a flamenco-jazz crossover composition. On this album Ben plays most of the trombone parts and his flamenco guitar in music composed by Ilja Reijngoud In recognition of his contributions to the International Trombone Association and to the trombone community at large Ben van Dijk was the recipient of the 2003 ITA Award and in 2017 Ben received the ITA Neill Humfeld Award. In 2017 Ben was elected as President of the International Trombone Association for a period of 3 years the most honorable position in the ITA. Ben plays exclusively Thein trombones.