Jazz composer, arranger, and conductor DAVID BERGER is recognized internationally as a leading authority on the music of Duke Ellington and the Swing Era. Conductor and arranger for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from its inception in 1988 through 1994, Berger has transcribed over 750 full scores of classic recordings, including more than 500 works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn in addition to hundreds of other classic jazz recordings. In 1996 Berger collaborated with choreographer Donald Byrd to create and tour "Harlem Nutcracker," a full-length jazz ballet that expands the Tchaikovsky/Ellington/Strayhorn score into an American classic. The 15-piece band assembled to play this show has stayed together as the David Berger Jazz Orchestra. The DBJO actively performs Berger’s music on tours throughout the United States and Europe. Berger has written music for numerous jazz groups of all sizes, symphony orchestras, singers, dancers, television, Broadway shows and films and has served as conductor and musical director for dance companies, TV and stage shows. Following a career as a trumpet player, Berger served as adjunct professor at a number of jazz studies programs in the New York metropolitan area including The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, The New School, and William Paterson University. He has written dozens of etude books for Charles Colin, as well as jazz composing and arranging books for his own publishing company, Such Sweet Thunder. He writes a weekly blog about the intersection of art and life, which can be found at www.SuchSweetThunderMusic.com. www.davidbergerjazz.com
