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Simon Yu
Jason Yeager
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What do Kurt Vonnegut, Thelonious Monk, Latin American folk music, and the socio-political issues of our time have in common? They all find their way into the music and mind of Berklee professor and award-winning pianist and composer Jason Yeager. An adroit and sensitive accompanist as well as an imaginative bandleader, Yeager has released seven albums of original music, including Unstuck in Time: The Kurt Vonnegut Suite (Sunnyside Records), with his eponymous septet and special guest Miguel Zenón; and Hand in Hand (Club 44 Records), with his spouse and Broadway singer/actress Julie Benko. Yeager's forthcoming album with String Department faculty member Jason Anick, Sanctuary, was supported by a Berklee Faculty Development Grant and will be released in 2024. Yeager is the 2022 winner of the Jazz WaHi Jazz Composition Competition, a second-place winner of the Ravenscroft Jazz Piano Competition, and a two-time finalist of the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition.
The New York-based pianist has performed across five continents, at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Birdland, the Blue Note, Smalls, Panama Jazz Festival, and more. He has performed and recorded with such noteworthy artists as Luciana Souza, Miguel Zenón, Farayi Malek, Ran Blake, Jason Palmer, Ayn Inserto, Sean Jones, Randal Despommier, and Noah Preminger, among others. A committed teacher, Yeager is an associate professor of piano at Berklee College of Music. He is an honors graduate of the Tufts University/New England Conservatory Double Degree Program, and earned a Master of Music summa cum laude from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.
- Selected recordings as a leader include Unstuck in Time: The Kurt Vonnegut Suite (Sunnyside, 2022), Hand in Hand (Club44 Records, 2022), New Songs of Resistance (Outside in Music, 2019), All at Onceness (Red Piano Records, 2018) with Randal Despommier, United (Inner Circle Music, 2017) with Jason Anick
- Music director and arranger/pianist for Broadway performer Julie Benko
- Performed on more than 25 additional recordings as a side musician
- Made Carnegie Hall solo piano recital debut in April 2019
- Leader of the Jason Yeager Trio & Septet
- Co-leader of the Jason Anick/Jason Yeager Quintet
- Performances with Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, Miguel Zenón, Julie Benko, Luciana Souza, Sean Jones, Farayi Malek, Noah Preminger, and Mark Walker, among others
- Performances as a leader and sideman at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Smalls Jazz Club, and Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City; the Regattabar, Berklee Performance Center, and Jordan Hall in Boston; and abroad in Argentina, Panama, South Africa, Botswana, Sweden, and China, among others
- Studied with Fred Hersch, Danilo Pérez, Ran Blake, Sophia Rosoff, John Kamitsuka, Vijay Iyer, and Jerry Bergonzi, among others
- Winner of 2022 Jazz WaHi Jazz Composition Competition
- Winner of Berklee Faculty Recording Grants (2015, 2022)
- Second Place Winner, Ravenscroft Jazz Piano Competition (2022)
- Two-time Finalist, Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition (2019, 2022)
- Finalist, International Songwriting Competition (2017)
- DownBeat magazine 4.5-star review and a Best Album of 2017 for United (Inner Circle Music)
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School NameBerklee College of MusicState or ProvinceMassachusettsDegreeMaster of Music (M.M.)Field of StudyJazz StudiesDate Degree Received
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School NameTufts UniversityState or ProvinceMassachusettsDegreeBachelor of Arts (B.A.)Field of StudyInternational RelationsDate Degree Received
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School NameThe New England Conservatory of MusicState or ProvinceMassachusettsDegreeBachelor of Music (B.M.)Field of StudyJazz StudiesDate Degree Received