New York Music Group

Calendar

education

University training

• 2008: City College, MA in jazz piano performance, studies with Mike Holober, Cidinho Teixeira
• 1993-4: DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, one year towards MM in jazz piano performance, studies with pianist Larry Novak and bassist Larry Gray
• 1989-93: Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois; BM in classical piano performance, studies with pianists Daniel Paul Horn and Bradley Williams; saxophonist Larry Panella

Additional training

• 2005, 2006: Participant in California Brazil Camp, Cazadero, CA, studies with pianist Jovino Santos Neto; guitarist Guinga
• 1999-2001: Studies with Brazilian drummer Vanderlei Pereira
• 1999: Participant in the Banff International Jazz Workshop, Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, studies with pianist Kenny Werner; trumpeter Dave Douglas
• 1996-2001: Occasional private studies with pianists Fred Hersch, Sonny Bravo, Chucho Vald, Hilario Duri n

awards

• 2005: Grant recipient from New England Foundation for the Arts/Meet the Composer
• 2002: Winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, Jacksonville, Florida: finalist in 1997 and 2000
• 2001: Finalist in the American Pianists Association’s American Jazz Piano Competition, Indianapolis; semifinalist in 1998
• 1999: Semifinalist in the Montreux Jazz Festival Piano Solo Competition
• 1997: Grant recipient from the City of Chicago’s Cultural Affairs Department

biography

Winner of the 2002 Great American Jazz Piano Competition and a past guest on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, pianist/composer/vocalist Deanna Witkowski brings an exuberance and vitality of spirit to her fusions of jazz, brazilian, afro-cuban, and sacred music. An accomplished bandleader and composer, Witkowski has been described as "consistently thrilling" with a "boundless imagination" (All Music Guide) and "a clear musical vision" (JazzTimes).

Witkowski’€™s imagination has led her to many new worlds: a desire to improvise led her to pursue jazz even while she completed an undergraduate degree in classical piano at Wheaton College; her tenure in a salsa band during her days on the Chicago jazz scene in the mid-1990s led her to Latin jazz; her desire to explore Africa led to a semester of teaching piano in Kenya; and her interest in jazz and the church led to a three-year music director position at All Angels’ Episcopal Church in Manhattan. Before making the move to New York in 1997, Witkowski documented her Chicago quartet on her debut recording, Having to Ask (Jazzline, 2000), which was widely acclaimed as the announcement of a "major talent" (Jazz Improv).

While working in the church, Witkowski continued to pursue her love of composition by writing new pieces both for church services as well as for her New York quartet, which she formed in 1998. Her second recording, Wide Open Window (Khaeon, 2003), led to an invitation to appear on National Public Radio twice: first, on Weekend Edition Sunday; and soon thereafter, on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz. The recording was listed on several best-of-2003 lists, and led one reviewer to name Witkowski as “one of the best of the new generation of piano players” (Jazz Journal International). Witkowski’€™s third release, Length of Days (ArtistShare, 2005), prompted reviewer John Kelman to comment, “the depth of Witkowski’€™s approach is almost concealed by her elegant delivery—€”she successfully masks complexity in an undeniably accessible sound”€ (All About Jazz). In 2008, Witkowski will enter the studio for her fourth recording, which will feature her sacred music with saxophonist Donny McCaslin and bassist John Patitucci.

Witkowski’s current direction includes a love for Brazilian culture. Fluent in Portuguese, she recently returned from a performance at the Recife Jazz Festival and is working on new arrangements of Brazilian music. Her travels have also led to performances at the Tel Aviv Opera House, the Kennedy Center's Women in Jazz Festival, and Espano Bis in Rio de Janeiro. She spent the summer of 2004 touring internationally as the pianist for vocalist Lizz Wright; closer to home, she holds down the piano chair in the the BMI/New York Jazz Composers Orchestra, led by Jim McNeely. Witkowski also specializes in the sacred music of Mary Lou Williams: in January 2008, her presentation Moving with the Spirit: the sacred jazz of Mary Lou Williams, was showcased at the International Association for Jazz Education conference, and will be reprised at Duke University in 2009.

my teaching approach

Teaching means guiding and experimenting with a student to help them to reach whatever their next level might be. Just as improvisation requires a being in the moment, teaching requires this same skill. It also requires an articulateness so that concepts can be readily expressed-- but the experimentation often comes in finding a way that the student will grasp the concepts.

I also strongly believe that improvisation can be taught in many different contexts (not just in jazz), and that classical players who want to learn to improvise can do so with the right guidance. This comes from my own experience, as it was not until college that I began improvising and playing jazz while I was pursuing a classical performance degree.