Sixteen-year-old Benji Hruska is a junior at Shorewood High School. He has been composing music for more than three years. He earned Honorable mention in the High School category in this year's Wisconsin Alliance for Composers Student Composition Contest. He plays his main instrument, the viola, in MYSO's Senior Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, as well as at school, and studies viola privately with Amanda Koch. The first time one of his compositions was performed was for the 2020 John Downey Creation Project.

Benji is thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Downey project once again, and thanks Christian Ellenwood for his help composing this piece, as well as the quartet's coach, Samantha Rodriguez, for help bringing this piece to life. 

His school orchestra, the Shorewood High School Chamber Orchestra, will  perform his composition, The Duel, later this spring. Benji plans to major in music composition in college.

A Not-So-Expedient Expedition follows the journey of a team of explorers, as they traverse unknown lands. The piece begins in their hometown, with joyful anticipation of the trip ahead. However, soon after they leave, they realize their travels won't be as easy as they thought, as things start to go wrong. After the team's first major encounter, the music changes in tone; slowing down and becoming quieter as the cello drops out. Mourning their loss, the group eventually picks the pace back up as tension builds. In the climax of the piece, the team faces their most difficult challenge yet and emerges victorious, but not without sacrifice.