Jeremy Siskind (born October 14, 1986) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

known for his innovative blending of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

Early life

Siskind was raised in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

and began playing piano at age four. Jeremy was trained in the Yamaha Music Education System, and quickly distinguished himself in their Junior Original Concert program, where he was twice selected to be the United States representative to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Siskind studied

jazz piano Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

with Linda Martinez and

Tamir Hendelman Tamir Hendelman (; born 1971) is an Israeli-American jazz pianist. Hendelman has performed with the Jeff Hamilton Trio, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Harry Allen, Teddy Edwards, Warren Vaché, Houston Person, Jeff Clayton, Nick Brign ...

. Siskind earned degrees in Jazz Performance and Music Theory at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, where he studied with Tony Caramia,

Bill Dobbins Bill Dobbins (born 1943) is an American photographer who specializes in bodybuilding, physique and fitness photography. In particular, Dobbins is well known for his work in photographing female bodybuilders and has published two books of images ...

, and

Harold Danko Harold Danko (born June 13, 1947 in Ohio) is an American jazz pianist. Danko attended Youngstown State University. Among his credits are work in the big bands of Woody Herman and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, as well as smaller ensembles with Gerry Mull ...

. In 2006, Siskind was noticed by jazz legend

Marian McPartland Margaret Marian McPartland Order of the British Empire, OBE ( Turner;Hasson, Claire, . PhD Thesis. Retrieved 12 August 2008. 20 March 1918 – 20 August 2013), was an English and American jazz pianist, composer, and writer. She was the host of ...

, who invited him to record an episode of ''

Piano Jazz ''Piano Jazz'' is a weekly one-hour radio show produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It began on June 4, 1978, and was hosted by jazz pianist Marian McPartland (1918–2013) until 2011. It is the longest-running cultural pr ...

'' on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. Siskind began participating in piano competitions while at Eastman, and was a three-time finalist for the Kathleen T. and Philip B. Phillips, M.D. Jazz Piano Competition. He was also a finalist for the

American Piano Awards American Piano Awards is a non-profit performing arts organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization's goal is to "discover, promote, and advance" the careers of young American pianists. The organization hosts a biennial competition ...

Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz in 2007 and 2011, but ultimately lost to

Dan Tepfer Dan Tepfer (born 1982 in Paris, France) is a French-American jazz pianist and composer. He is best known for his 2011 album ''Goldberg Variations/Variations'' and his 2019 multimedia project ''Natural Machines''. Biography Dan Tepfer grew up in ...

and Aaron Diehl, respectively. Siskind won second prize at the Montreux Solo Jazz Piano Competition in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 2011, and won first prize in the Nottingham International Solo Piano Competition in 2013. Upon graduating Eastman in 2008, Siskind moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to pursue a degree in English and Comparative Literature at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. While at Columbia, Siskind began studies with

Fred Hersch Fred Hersch (born October 21, 1955) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and a 17-time Grammy nominée. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than ...

and

Sophia Rosoff Sophia Rosoff (January 26, 1924 - November 22, 2017) was an American pianist and educator, and a founder of the Abby Whiteside Foundation. She was a co-editor of the reprinted collection of Abby Whiteside's writings, along with Joseph Prostakoff. ...

. While in New York, Siskind recorded his debut record, ''Simple Songs (for When the World Seems Strange)'', featuring bassist

Chris Lightcap Chris Lightcap is an American double bassist, bass guitarist and composer born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Career In addition to his work as a bassist he has led a variety of bands since 2000 and has produced six albums of original music. Lightcap' ...

, drummer

Ted Poor Ted may refer to: Names A shortened form of the following: * Edmund * Edward * Thaddeus * Theodore (given name) Art, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Ted, a character in the post-apocalyptic short story '' I Have No Mouth, ...

, and vocalist

Jo Lawry Jo Lawry is an Australian singer and musician. Lawry's debut album, ''I Want to Be Happy'', was released in 2008. ''Down Beat'' magazine gave it 4.5 out of 5 and selected it as one of the "Best CDs of the 2000s". Music career Jo Lawry was rai ...

Career and style

A hallmark of Siskind's career is the combination of classical and jazz. In his debut recital at

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 ...

’s

Weill Hall Weill is an educational institution affiliated with Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American ...

in 2012, he performed

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

’s Etudes in the first half of the program and jazz compositions in the second half. His project with

Andrew Rathbun Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

, released as ''Impressions of Debussy'' in 2020, features the jazz duo improvising on Debussy's piano preludes. Siskind's ''Perpetual Motion Etudes'' was also released in 2020, as both a self-published book and CD from the Outside In Music label, combining through-composed material with jazz improvisation. Siskind's scheduled premieres of these works, featuring two-piano duos with

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-winning pianist

Angelin Chang Angelin Chang (張安麟, Korean: 장 安 린) is a classical pianist and professor of music at Cleveland State University. She heads the university's keyboard studies program coordinates the university's chamber music program, and teaches musi ...

, were cancelled as a repercussion of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. As a result, he instead took to

Instagram Live Instagram is an American photo and short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via ...

, performing ballads from his home. Siskind also combines classical and jazz influences with the Housewarming Project, his

chamber jazz Chamber jazz is a genre of jazz involving small, acoustic-based ensembles where group interplay is important. It is influenced aesthetically by the small ensembles of chamber music in musical neoclassicism and is often influenced by classical fo ...

group featuring vocalist Nancy Harms and

Lucas Pino Lucas Pino García (born 30 October 2005) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Uruguayan Primera División club Montevideo City Torque. Club career Pino played ''baby fútbol'' for Nueva Unión and Or ...

playing

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

, and

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...

. The Housewarming Project recorded two albums and performed well over 100 house concerts in over 25 states. Their repertoire features Siskind's lyric writing, which draws information from poetry and prose he read while studying at Columbia. Siskind was named a Yamaha Artist in 2014.

Collaborative work

Siskind has been a frequent collaborator with soprano

Julia Bullock Julia Bullock (born July 16, 1986) is a Grammy-winning American soprano originally from St. Louis, Missouri. Anthony Tommasini from ''The New York Times'' has called her an "impressive, fast-rising soprano... poised for a significant career”. ...

, writing multiple sets of arrangements, including a cycle of the music of

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

. Siskind collaborated with pianist Lori Sims and saxophonist Andrew Rathbun on "Impressions of Debussy." He has also served as music director for comedians

Lea DeLaria Lea DeLaria (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actress, and jazz singer. She portrayed List of Orange Is the New Black characters#Carrie "Big Boo" Black, Carrie "Big Boo" Black on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' ...

and

Sandra Bernhard Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures. Bernhard is also well kn ...

Teaching

Siskind is a well-regarded pedagogue and active educator. As a collegiate professor, he has taught at Eastman (while still a student in 2006),

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

(2012-2017), and

Fullerton College Fullerton College (FC) is a public community college in Fullerton, California. The college is part of the California Community Colleges System and the North Orange County Community College District. Established in 1913, it is the oldest communi ...

in California (2017–present day). Siskind served as the founding Artistic Director of the American Jazz Pianist Competition from 2014 to 2016. As an author and composer, Siskind has published extensively with

Hal Leonard Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Curre ...

, including instructional books ''Jazz Band Pianist'' and ''First Lessons in Piano Improv''. He is also a frequent presenter at piano conferences such as the

Music Teachers National Association Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) is an American nonprofit professional organization for the support, growth, and development of music-teaching professionals, with more than 17,000 members in 50 states, and more than 500 affiliated loca ...

and the National Conference for Keyboard Pedagogy, where he serves as the Chair of the Creative Track. Siskind actively teaches creativity, improvisation, and jazz with Yamaha Music Education and Jazz Education Abroad, who organizes masterclasses in places like

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Siskind is the teacher of prodigy Justin-Lee SchultzJustin-Lee Schultz post with Siskind
at

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

since 2016. The two began lessons when they were both living in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

. Jeremy's brother is Dr. Scott Siskind, who blogs under the name Scott Alexander.

Discography

As a leader

* ''Simple Songs (for When the World Seems Strange)'' (Brooklyn Jazz Underground, 2010) with

, and

* ''Finger-Songwriter'' (Brooklyn Jazz Underground, 2012) with

and Nancy Harms * ''Housewarming'' (Brooklyn Jazz Underground, 2015) with Lucas Pino, Nancy Harms, plus

Kurt Elling Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. He sang in cho ...

Peter Eldridge Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Kendra Shank Kendra Shank (born April 23, 1958) is an American jazz vocalist. Career Shank's mother was an actress and playwright and her father was a playwright and teacher at the University of California. When she was five, she appeared onstage with her mo ...

* ''Perpetual Motion Etudes'' (Outside in Music, 2020)

As a co-leader

* ''Free Fall'' (2014) with the Western Jazz Quartet * ''Impressions of Debussy'' (

Centaur Records Centaur Records is one of the oldest and largest independent classical labels in America. The company is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was founded by Victor Sachse in 1976. Centaur's catalog includes classical, historical, pops, contemp ...

, 2020) with

and Lori Sims

As a sideman

* ''Bridges'' (2015) with Doug Scarborough * ''Ellington at Night'' (Gazzelle Records, 2016) with Nancy Harms * ''Atwood Suites'' (2018) with Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble

Other

* ''at_Home/at_Play'' (2018) video series with Lucas Pino and Nancy Harms

Publications

* 2020: ''Playing Solo Jazz Piano'' (self-published) *2020: ''Perpetual Motion Etudes'' (self-published) * 2020: ''Such Harmonious Madness'' (self-published) * 2019: ''Theme from New York New York'' — for six hands (Hal Leonard) * 2018: ''Big Apple Jazz'' (Hal Leonard) * 2017: ''Pop Duets'' (Hal Leonard) * 2015: ''First Lessons in Piano Improv'' (Hal Leonard) * 2015: ''Jazz Hits'' (Hal Leonard) * 2015: ''Myths and Monsters'' (Hal Leonard) * 2014: ''Jazz Band Pianist'' (Hal Leonard) * 2014: ''Double Agent'' (Hal Leonard) * 2013: ''Conga Lion'' (Hal Leonard) * 2013: ''The Magic of Standards'' (Hal Leonard) * 2012: ''Jazz Etude Inspirations'' (Hal Leonard) * 2012: ''Big Band Shout'' (Hal Leonard)

References

External links

Official website

YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siskind, Jeremy 1986 births Living people American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Western Michigan University faculty 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians