Although curling was part of the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924, it would not return to the official program until 1998 鈥� just a few months before Ben Richardson was born. Now he takes to the ice in northern Italy as part of the this month.
And curling isn鈥檛 his only talent. Richardson graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2021.
鈥淗e still plays cello a little bit, but it's mostly all about curling now,鈥� said his father, Harry, a pianist with the North Royalton City Schools鈥� music program. 鈥淚t was a little bit disappointing that he decided on curling after we spent all that money at CIM 鈥� but I'm happy he's incredibly happy, and he's going as far as he is with what he's doing.鈥�
Curlers slide large, rounded stones across the ice, while teammates use brooms or brushes to sweep a path toward the 鈥渕ark.鈥� With origins in Scotland, it鈥檚 also popular in Canada. That鈥檚 where Ben Richardson鈥檚 maternal grandparents are from. His mother, Rochelle McGhee, is a violin/viola teacher and started him on cello age 3 years old.
鈥淚 was in a string quartet,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e was always pointing to the cello, and he was always kind of a big kid. He was 10 pounds, 7 ounces when he was born. I thought, 鈥極h, cello would be a great instrument for him, because it's not what mom's doing. And maybe he'll stick with it longer.鈥欌��
Music was Ben鈥檚 first love while .
鈥淲e discovered he had a beautiful singing voice,鈥� Harry Richardson said. 鈥淗e joined Northwest Boychoir and became a soloist.鈥�
That even led to some unusual recording work.
鈥淭hey had to have a boy soprano sing all the notes chromatically up the keyboard for a software program,鈥� McGhee said.
The recording was used for Cinesamples, a brand of virtual composing software. His father still uses it in his work.
鈥淓very time I play a note on my keyboard, when I'm set to that patch, it's his voice,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was very surreal.鈥�
As his voice changed, Ben concentrated less on singing and more on cello and a new interest: curling. Rochelle鈥檚 parents were well-known in Oregon鈥檚 curling community after moving there in the 1960s. They suggested the sport for their grandson.
鈥淟iterally from the first time he stepped out on the ice, he was just obsessed,鈥� McGhee said. 鈥淚 realized that was his passion, not cello. That slide that you do when you are curling, you go out and you have to have a lot of balance and flexibility. And those things kind of came easy for him because of his ballet background.鈥�
Ben still decided to pursue music in college, heading to his father鈥檚 hometown to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He managed to do that while taking part in events like the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.
鈥淗e's just always been an incredibly hard worker,鈥� Harry Richardson said. 鈥淲hen he graduated from CIM, I thought, 鈥楬ow are you going to be able to manage pursuing the sport that basically doesn't pay anything with holding down a full-time job?鈥欌��
Ben now works in IT while also serving as associate principal cello for the Mankato Symphony in Minnesota - all while pursuing his Olympic dream.
