Benji Hruska is a senior at Shorewood High School and has been composing music for more than five years. He plays the viola in the MYSO Senior Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, as well as at school, and studies viola privately under Amanda Koch. 

Benji earned an honorable mention in last year's Wisconsin Alliance for Composers Student Composition Contest. The first time one of his compositions was performed was in the spring of 2020 by MYSO's Sinfonia. Benji is thankful for the opportunity to participate in the John Downey Creation Project for a third time, and for Ron Foster's help with this piece. In the fall, Benji plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and major in music theory and composition.