Kurt Bacher

Kurt Bacher, saxophonist, multi-woodwind player, composer and arranger, is a native of Foxboro, Massachusetts. Born in 1981, he started studying piano at the age of six and saxophone at age eleven. During his high school years, he received Outstanding Soloist awards for alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, and clarinet at the national "Essentially Ellington" Festival at Lincoln Center while performing with the renowned, award-winning Foxboro High School Jazz Ensemble directed by Stephen C Massey, and was selected for the 2000 Grammy Foundation's National High School Jazz Ensemble. After high school, Mr. Bacher enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music where he studied composition with Manny Albam and Michael Abene, and reeds with Joe Temperley. While at the Manhattan School of Music, he was the recipient of the Fran Morgenstern Scholarship from ASCAP, as well as the "Manny Albam Prize," both awards in recognition of his promise as a jazz composition student. He studied privately with Ted Nash, while also receiving encouragement and mentorship in composition from Wynton Marsalis. Some of Mr. Bacher's other mentors have included Ed Green, Yusef Lateef, David Liebman, Michael Patterson, Hal Crook, Kenny Reid, George Murphy, Steve Slagle, Dave Pietro, Mark Vinci, Mark Gross, Charles Russo, Mark Miller and Charles Pillow.

In 2000, Mr. Bacher composed an original extended piece for jazz orchestra, which had been commissioned by New York City’s Commission Project. His jazz ballet, "Four Point Three", premiered on April 4, 2001, at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, where the work was performed in concert by the New York All-City High School Jazz Ensemble directed by Justin DiCioccio. The ballet was then performed with original choreography by Elisa King performed by the LaGuardia High School Senior Dance Class accompanied by the NY All-City HSJE in June of 2001 at the LaGuardia HS for the performing Arts. Mr. Bacher leads his own eleven-piece jazz orchestra, which recorded a two-CD demo in 2003, featuring nine of his original compositions and arrangements. Most recently, Mr. Bacher was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center to compose an original work for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to be featured on a concert series in the spring of 2008, along with original works from fellow saxophonists Frank Foster and Erica vonKleist. The resulting work, “Duet” was premiered at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 13, 14, and 15 of 2008 during the “Songs of Romance” concert series.

Mr. Bacher lives in New York City and has performed and/or recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Kirby, Eric Lewis, Cyrus Chestnut, Edy Martinez, John Benitez, Wess "Warmdaddy" Anderson, Marcus Printup, Cody Moffett, Milt Grayson, Aria Hendricks, Judi Silvano, Valery Ponomarev, Clark Terry, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, JoJo, Johnny Mathis, Frankie Valli, The Impressions, Joe Piscopo, David Cassidy, Alexander K, Boz Scaggs, Bobby Short, David Berger, Vince Giordano, Andy Farber, Sherisse Rogers' Project Uprising, David Angel, Chuck Flory, John Allmark, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, the Gene Krupa Orchestra, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, the Stan Rubin Orchestra, the Howard Williams Jazz Orchestra, JC Hopkins, Mike Fahie, Ron Sunshine, the Pratt Brothers Big Band, The Boy from Oz starring Hugh Jackman on Broadway, The Dancers Life starring Chita Rivera, Hot Feet, Fame, Jersey Boys, In The Heights, and many others. His saxophone and various woodwinds can be heard on television commercials, jingles, and as samples on many pop and R&B recordings. An accomplished reed doubler, Mr. Bacher is proficient on all the saxophones, flutes, clarinets, and the oboe and english horn.

Mr. Bacher received his B.M. in composition from the Manhattan School of Music, and is currently pursuing his M.M. there. Also a committed music educator, Mr. Bacher has taught saxophone, flute and clarinet privately for ten years, and has been on the faculty of the Foxboro Music Program's Summer Improvisation Workshop for five years. As a guest artist, Mr. Bacher has performed and given masterclasses/clinics on the topics of jazz improvisation and saxophone playing throughout New England and the greater New York City area. He was the conductor for the 2005-2006 Massachussetts SE Jr. District Jazz Ensemble, which performed in concert on March 11th, 2006.

Mr. Bacher has performed in such diverse venues as the Village Vanguard, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, Jazz Standard, Upover Jazz Cafe, Lenox Lounge, Cleopatra's Needle, Fat Cat, Smoke, Makor, Triad, Jazz Gallery, Bowery Poetry Club, Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Symphony Hall in Boston, the Kennedy Center, the Verizon-Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and the Staples Center. Mr. Bacher toured the U.S. with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis for its "Out Here To Swing" tour in 2003. He also played with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra for their Art Blakey tribute concert, "The Big Beat - The Music of Art Blakey" in 2002, and the JVC Newport Jazz Festival Summer 2004. Mr. Bacher can be seen in the PBS documentary commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival, as well as on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" performing with the "Jersey Boys" Band. He maintains a very active performance schedule in the greater New York City area and beyond.