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Steve Sandberg
Sandberg was lead composer and musical director for Nickelodeon’s landmark children’s programs “Dora the Explorer” and “Go, Diego, Go!”. His scoring and songwriting was informed by a lifetime of immersion in the music of many cultures.
Sandberg grew up playing classical piano, then became part of New York’s vibrant Latin music scene. His mentor in the field of jazz and Latin music was multi-instrumentalist Mario Rivera, a key member of the Dizzie Gillespie, Tito Puente, and George Coleman ensembles. Sandberg was pianist, composer and arranger for Rivera’s legendary “Salsa Refugee” group, and also performed with Celia Cruz, Tito Puente and Ruben Blades. A highlight of this period was an appearance in Rio and São Paolo with João Gilberto in a duo with vocalist Bebel Gilberto. He also toured with David Byrne (“Rei Momo”) as keyboardist and vocalist.
Sandberg has studied North Indian raga singing with Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, and performs with Dr. L. Subramaniam, South India’s violin icon.
The Steve Sandberg Quartet made its debut in 2016 with a sold out concert at New York City’s DiMenna Center. The group grew out of Mr. Sandberg’s desire to merge his lifelong study of classical Western music with his passion for jazz, Latin, and world music.
The Quartet released its breakthrough recording, “Alaya”, on Artistshare Records in 2016. It has performed at Birdland, New York’s Symphony Space, Sidedoor Jazz, and will be featured next April at the Allentown Symphony Jazz series. The concerts mix performances from the solo piano repertoire (Chopin, Ravel, Bartok, Liszt), with the quartet’s soaring improvisations on originals that are based on these pieces and also draw from Latin, African, Balkan, and East Indian traditions. One audience member describes the experience as listening to “music from a country I’ve never been to but always wanted to visit.” Sandberg also uses the concerts as an opportunity to educate and engage his audiences with accessible commentary that draws them into his musical world.
“Alaya” features Snarky Puppy’s Zach Brock, heralded as “the pre-eminent improvising violinist of his generation”; drummer Mauricio Zottarelli (Eliane Elias, Esperanza Spalding, Hiromi); and bassist Michael O’Brien (Harry Connick Jr., Dave Samuels, Ruben Blades).
Awards
Three Emmy nominations for composition, musical direction for Nickelodeon's, "'Dora the Explorer" and "Go, Diego, Go."
Tags
Steve Sandberg Trio at Soapbox Gallery
by Mark Sullivan
Steve Sandberg Trio Soapbox Gallery Brooklyn, NY January 30, 2021 Pianist/composer Steve Sandberg presented a concert of his World Classical Music Project from Brooklyn's Soapbox Gallery, along with bassist Michael O'Brien and drummer Rudy Royston. It's a fascinating concept: Sandberg combines his love of the classical piano repertoire with new compositions inspired by those pieces, along with influences from other cultures around the world and jazz improvisation. Sometimes the new compositions relate directly to their ...
read moreSteve Sandberg Quartet: Alaya
by Dan Bilawsky
The best word to sum up pianist Steve Sandberg's work is expansive. If his own performance history doesn't make that point clearly enough--he's hobnobbed with Brazilian music royalty like the Gilberto clan, made his mark on the salsa world by working with artists like Ruben Blades and Celia Cruz, touched down time and again in the world of musical theater, and garnered several Emmy nominations for writing and musical direction on children's programs like Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, ...
read more3-Time Emmy-nominated Composer Steve Sandberg’s ArtistShare Debut Submitted For Grammy Consideration
Source:
Brian Camelio
3-time Emmy-nominated composer Steve Sandberg’s ArtistShare debut, Alaya, is hailed as a breakthrough recording whose compositions masterfully blend classical and world music genres with the excitement of virtuosic improvisation. We are proud to submit Alaya for this year’s Grammy nomination consideration in the Contemporary Instrumental genre. Alaya started as an All About Jazz/Launchpad project and was picked up by ArtistShare after a highly successful fan- funding campaign. ArtistShare recommends the track Janos." Alaya, both exhilarating and deeply poetic, represents Sandberg’s ...
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Primary Instrument
Piano
Location
New York City
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Photos
Music
Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson