By Zorina Barker, Forum Correspondent

Ben Dobyns was the piano man Friday night, Oct. 11, playing a fundraising concert for the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church.

Dressed in traditional Forks attire of jeans and flannel, he gave the listeners a delightful performance of jazz, classical and faith-based music.

“He is awesome,” Adria Fuhrman exclaimed during a break in the music where the audience and Dobyns were treated to cookies and beverages by the congregation.

Dobyns spent most of his formative years in Forks; his father was a local doctor.

In first grade he began taking lessons from a teacher in town who taught him all she could. He then went on to Port Angeles for lessons from Paul Creech.

Now, as a father and husband, he was pleased to return to the church and piano he played as a child; giving his time and energy to help what he feels is a good cause, maintaining the building of worship that is close to his heart.

The self-proclaimed “youngest members of the audience,” Jordan Goakey and Kayci Trettevik both play instruments at the Forks Middle School, clarinet and trumpet respectively.

“I recognized the second song; I think it was ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’” Goakey said.

“Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin is Dobyn’s favorite piece to play.

“I enjoy it because it covers every mood and technical challenge,” his fingers dance over the keys, drawing out the composer’s feelings.

Back in the I-5 corridor, Dobyns is a church musician on the weekends, playing for an Episcopal church in Seattle and a Lutheran church in Tacoma.

Weekdays finds him running Zombie-Orpheus Entertainment, a feature film and web series production company.

“My musical background makes it easier to work with composers, to really get at the technical and emotional aspects they are looking for,” he said.

So it was a quiet and appreciative audience that took in the music from the older upright piano. The candles and subdued lights made a cozy atmosphere, a pleasing frame for Ben Dobyns’ art.