My first trip to Brazil! Releasing our first DVD. Gabriel Santiago - guitars Wayne Salzmann - drums Patrice Blanchard - bass Russell Haight - winds Peter John Stoltzman - keys
Latest release as a sideman on Armin Marmolejo's CD
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/arminmarmolejo
Check out this new release! It's an honor to be on this record.
Thomas Heflin - trumpet Ron Westray - trombone Peter John Stoltzman - piano Elias Haslanger - tenor sax Adonis Rose - drums David Sierra - drums Eric Revis - bass Neal Caine - bass
click here to listen to samples and buy tracks at CD Baby
Past Events
Moving to Chicago I'm on the move -- in June I accepted a full-time teaching position at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I'll be back in Austin to visit, record, and perform. The faculty at UIC has been very warm and welcoming, and I look forward to working with the students, as well as being part of growing the jazz department.
Celebrate!
Nicholas Robert Stoltzman Gray was born Feb. 24th, 2011
New York, New York! Carnegie's Zankel Hall on January 7th with Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomez, Richard Stoltzman, and Mika Yoshida playing music from Mika's 2010 release, Mikarimba, and tunes by Eddie, Steve, and Olivier Messiaen! click here to buy tickets I am replacing Warren Berhardt on piano, who had a medical emergency. Please join me in sending prayers for healing and an optimal recovery.
Fall Semester 2010: Full steam ahead
Nose to the grindstone towards the dissertation... The pilot study is almost done. Here's what I observed the great jazz piano teacher Jeff Hellmer doing whenever he is leading students to observably improve on their instrument: 1) Identify meaningful challenges 2) Model the skillful execution of those goals 3) Translate the challenges into manageable tasks 4) Guide the student towards increasingly abstract conceptions of the music Based on current research in expertise in music, an optimal state is achieved when abstract thinking initiates the skillful execution of meaningful musical expressions. When practices are meaningful, manageable, and modeled beautifully, music students are likely to experience optimal development.If practices are not manageable, students get frustrated.If practices are not meaningful, students get bored.With this in mind, my philosophy asks for teachers to be more than just masters of instruments and knowledge. Teachers must also be masterful in their perception and assessment of students, in their ability to assign and sequence relevant practices at appropriate levels of complexity, and to construct lessons that emphasize relevant topics and repertoire for their students.
1st prize at the 2010 Kathleen T. and Philip B. Phillips, M.D. Jazz Piano Competition
All 5 pianists were fantastic: Emmet Cohen (Miami), Chris Pattishal (William Patterson), Roberto Verastagui (UNT), and Jeremy Siskind (Columbia) I am honored and grateful to win the competition this year. I receive it humbly, knowing any one of us could have been the winner. I am grateful to the audience for forgiving my imperfections and receiving/perceiving my intentions. Thank you for the Audience Favorite award!! And a huge thank you to Jeff Hellmer, my professor at UT, and all my former teachers, namely Joanne Brackeen and Charlie Banacos. I dedicate everything to you, Charlie. Rest in Peace and Love.