Andrew Surmani is President and CEO of
Surmani Business Coaching, LLC
'and Professor of Music Industry Studies/Academic Lead of the Master of Arts in Music Industry Administration program in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

(CSUN). Previously, he served as Chief Marketing Officer for

Alfred Music Alfred Music is an American music publishing company. Founded in New York in 1922, it is headquartered in Van Nuys, California, with additional branches in Miami, New York, Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. History In New York Cit ...

, where he played a key role in the company's acquisition of Warner Brothers Publications, and launched numerous product lines.

Education

Surmani has a Bachelor of Music degree in trumpet performance, and a Master of Business Administration degree from

. While at CSUN, he played with the CSUN Wind Ensemble, Orchestra and Jazz "A" Band.

Publications

Surmani has co-authored numerous books including the
Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory
' series and
Copyright Handbook for Music Educators and Directors, 2nd Edition
'.
Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory
' is a multi-part multimedia program that teaches beginner and intermediate level music theory in individual and classroom settings. Surmani was also instrumental in the launch of Alfred Music's
Sound Innovations
' series, the world's first customizable method for band and orchestra.

Performances

As a musician, Surmani plays the trumpet and has toured throughout the US, Europe and Japan, and has performed in the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

(Switzerland),

Istanbul International Jazz Festival The Istanbul Jazz Festival, formerly Istanbul Festival, () is a cultural event held every July in Istanbul, Turkey. It offers a selection of jazz music performances with the participations of famous artists from all over the world. The festival wa ...

(Turkey), Jazz à Juan (Juan les Pins, France), Jazz à Vienne (Vienne, France), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy),

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

(England) and the

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13 ...

(Japan) jazz festivals. He has also performed in the concert halls of

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

David Geffen Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...

and

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and Philanthropy, philanthropist whose donations assis ...

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, Fumon Hall in Tokyo, and the

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center, which is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt ...

in Los Angeles. He played lead trumpet in the

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

All-American College Jazz Band and in the California All-State Honor Band, the McDonald's All-American High School Marching Band and Jazz Band.

Nonprofits

He was a founding board member and is a past president of the international education nonprofit Jazz Education Network (JEN). Surmani also served on the Music and Arts Technology Industry Advisory Board at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and the Technology In Music Education (TI:ME) Advisory Board. He was the founder and past president of the MATES Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation formed to support a new arts and technology charter school in Thousand Oaks, California. Surmani is a native of

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

and

Skyline_High_School_(Oakland,_California) Skyline High School (SHS) is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States. It is part of the Oakland Unified School District. Administration and academics For the 2014-2015 school year, the principal was Vinh Trinh and the assista ...

, and now resides in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

References

External links

Surmani Business Coaching

Artist Access

California State University, Northridge Profile

CSUN Master of Arts in Music Industry Administration Degree Program

Artist House video on Alfred Music

Artist House video on Music Education

SB&O April 2012 Music Publishing Article Featuring Andrew Surmani

Andrew Surmani on LinkedIn

Surmani Business Coaching on LinkedIn

Andrew Surmani on X

Surmani Business Coaching on XAndrew Surmani on Instagram

Surmani Business Coaching on Instagram

The Changing Face of Wholesale in MMR Magazine, August 2013

Links to publications at Alfred Music

The Music Products Industry as Part of a Collegiate Music Industry Program’s Curriculum

Andrew Surmani's Website

Music Connection Magazine Article on Music Industry Studies at CSUN

In Tune Magazine Article on Music Travel, "Music Travel in the Time of (and After) COVID," Vol. 19, No. 2

In Tune Magazine Article on Music Travel, "On the Road Again," Vol. 20, No. 2

In Tune Magazine Article on Fundraising, "CREATIVE FUNDRAI$ING," Vol. 21, No. 1

In Tune Magazine Article on Music Travel, "Making Plans," Vol. 21, No. 3

In Tune Magazine Article on Repertoire, "An Evolving Landscape," Vol. 21, No. 7

In Tune Magazine Article on Earning a Masters Degree, "Mastering a Masters," Vol. 22, No. 1

In Tune Magazine Article on Music Travel, "Music Travel 2025, Making a List and Checking It Twice," Vol. 22, No. 8

CSUN Sundial Article on "CSUN’s Music Department is in perfect harmony with success"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surmani, Andrew American music industry executives Living people Year of birth missing (living people) California State University, Northridge alumni American trumpeters