Steven Feifke Big Band
Biography Steven Feifke Big Band
Steven Feifke
Recognized by GRAMMY.com as one of six big band composers pushing the format forwards and heralded a “masterful pianist” by JAZZIZ Magazine, award-winning Yamaha Performing Artist, bandleader and composer Steven Feifke is one of the most in-demand artists of his generation. A two-time semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition, Feifke has been featured on stages around the world alongside premiere artists including Steve Tyrell, Randy Brecker, Chad LB and Veronica Swift, with an impressive performance history at recognized venues like the Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, Times Square and Rockefeller Center. International tours across Europe, Africa and Asia along with an extensive discography of over 30 albums all before turning 30 have established Feifke’s name as a global presence in jazz.
Feifke is an internationally recognized arranger and orchestrator, and has written commissioned works for notables like the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra featuring Sean Jones and John Faddis, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Ken Peplowski, the Malmo Big Band with Katie Thiroux, and the New Generation Festival with Orchestra Senzaspine and Dominick Farinacci. He is the recipient of the 2020 David Baker Prize in composition from the Ravinia Festival and serves as musical director for the Tony Award Winning actor and singer Santino Fontana.
His writing work also branches into film and television, where Feifke’s compositions and orchestrations have been prominently featured on such hit TV shows as Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee on Netflix, Impractical Jokers on TruTV, Animaniacs on Hulu, and the 2016 award-winning animated short Solo. His 2020 big band album “KINETIC” on Outside in Music marks Feifke’s studio big band debut, featuring an 18-piece ensemble made up of players from the frontline of the contemporary jazz scene like Ulysses Owens Jr, Veronica Swift, and Lucas Pino.
A respected educator, Feifke sits on faculty at The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and has appeared as a guest lecturer and guest artist at educational institutions around the US like New York University, Yale University, Williams College, Moravian College, Northern Illinois University, and more. Additionally, he has been a dedicated participant of educational programs like Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People, the Catskill Jazz Factory, and Rockport Jazz Workshop. Feifke is the Co-Founder of A Step Ahead Jazz, an online music education platform offering comprehensive programs and tailored instruction to musicians of all ages and abilities, alongside alto saxophonist Alexa Tarantino. Feifke holds a Bachelor's Degree from New York University and a Master’s Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with true luminaries of composition and orchestration, Gil Goldstein and Jim McNeely.
