Ben Hummel (he/him) joined Kitchen Theatre Company as Business Manager after more than a decade working in data operations for international tech companies such as Dropbox and Zapier. While Ben enjoys a spreadsheet as much as the next data analyst, his first love was violin. Ben was classically trained in the Suzuki method starting at age 3 and went on to major in violin performance at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. Joining KTC marks a return for Ben—back to his roots in the arts in his hometown of Ithaca.

Ben lives in Ithaca with his wife, Hannah, and their two mischievous Great Pyrenees dogs, Basil and Poppy. He also co-founded a long-form improv theater in Ithaca called Third Place Theater that runs community jams and live improv shows each month. Ben still performs on violin on occasion—he particularly loves playing in pit orchestras for musical theater.