Joel Weiskopf

Pianist, keyboardist, educator, composer, arranger, producer and music minister Joel Weiskopf was raised in Syracuse, New York, where he grew up studying classical and jazz piano. Joel graduated with honors from the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied jazz piano with jazz great Jaki Byard and innovative pianist Fred Hersch. After college, Joel moved directly to competitive New York City, the jazz mecca of the world, where he was blessed to have worked with a veritable who’s who in the jazz industry including: Woody Herman, Gerry Mulligan, Jimmy Cobb, Ray Brown, Hubert Laws, Larry Coryell, Mel Lewis and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Buddy Rich Memorial Band, Tom Harrell, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, Wycliffe Gordon, Walt Weiskopf, Mark Sherman, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart, Dave Stryker, Jon Faddis, Andy Fusco, Jerry Bergonzi, Rob Scheps, Eric Alexander, John Swana and Joe Magnarelli, as well as Latin-jazz artists Arturo Sandoval, Poncho Sanchez, Pete Escovedo, Ruben Rodriguez, Oreste Abrantes, Connie Grossman and Demetrios Kastaris’ Cojunto Kathari. Weiskopf also has worked with gospel artists The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and Susan Quintyne, classical artists The Westchester Philharmonic, Richard Stoltzman and Achilles Liarmakopoulos; as well as pop musician Phil Collins. Joel was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant to study composition with composer Dary-John Mizelle. Weiskopf has been a keyboardist and music director at several gospel churches and has composed and performed dozens of original jazz and gospel-jazz compositions, several of which appear on his six critically acclaimed CD releases on the Criss Cross and Steeplechase Jazz Labels. As an educator, Joel taught jazz studies at New Jersey City University for twenty years and has also served as an adjunct professor at The New School, New York University, Kean University and Long Island University. Joel lives in upstate New York with his wife Karla and son Samuel, and enjoys sharing his expertise, knowledge and experience of music and the music business with budding musicians of all ages.