Stefan Schatz

Stefan Schatz was born in New York City. Trained early on as a classical percussionist at Interlochen and Manhattan School of Music Prep, Stefan went on to study jazz at the New School in New York. Since graduating in 1995, Stefan has been fortunate to work with many fine artists, including vocalists Dakota Staton, Jon Hendricks, and Peggy Cone, acoustic bass legend Milt Hinton, saxophonists Arnie Lawrence, Chris Byars, and Andy Farber, guitarist Matt Munisteri, vibraphonist Teddy Charles, tap dancer Buster Brown, and pianists Herman Foster and Michael Kanan.
Stefan has toured worldwide with The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Manhattan Tap, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Stefan’s affiliation with Morris yielded considerable praise in “The New York Times”, “The Washington Post”, “The San Francisco Chronicle”, and “The London Times”.
Stefan has appeared on “The Today Show”, “Good Day NY”, “60 Minutes 2”, “FoodNation”, the “Isaac Mizrahi Show”, “JazzSet”, and onstage in the Broadway productions of “Bombay Dreams” and “Burleigh Grimes”. He has played on television and film soundtracks, commercials, and numerous albums. Highlights from his discography include Deanna Kirk, Live at Deanna’s (Columbia Records), Peggy Cone, featuring Mark Turner, Looking For Yesterday (Cone Entertainment), Andy Farber and His Swing Mavens, Bluesectomy (New Jazz Renaissance), and Chris Byars, Jazz Pictures at an Exhibition of Himalayan Art (Smalls).
Stefan has served on the music faculties at VCS in Lower Manhattan and The Swett Academy in the Bronx, and has been very involved in arts outreach programs throughout New York City public schools for the Mark Morris Dance School, BAM, and the Lincoln Center Institute.
Since 2007, Stefan has been a cultural ambassador as part of “The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad” program, presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. State Department. Tours have included Russia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Cyprus, and the Balkans. In March 2008, Stefan made his debut at the world-famous Village Vanguard, playing with vibraphonist Teddy Charles.