Teaching Topics and Philosophy

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Biography

Eli Wallace is a pianist, improviser, composer, and curator who calls Brooklyn, NY his home. A recent transplant from Oakland, CA, he has quickly become involved in the New York improvised and creative music scene leading his concept project Slideshow Junky, participating in the collective trio Cataclysmic Commentary, performing solo, and working with musicians with a similar improvisational predilection such as Daniel Carter, Billy Mintz, Ches Smith, Trevor Dunn, Chris Pitsiokos, Andrew Smiley, Sandy Ewen and many others. He continues to be a huge contributor to Dialectical Imagination, the piano/drum duo led by musical mastermind Rob Pumpelly. His work as a pianist displays his vast milieu of experiences from classical, jazz, and free improvisation studies, while incorporating contemporary piano performance practice to create a sound that is uniquely his own. As a composer, he’s written pieces for solo piano, chamber groups, jazz ensembles, vocal jazz ensembles, jazz big band, full studio orchestra, and received commissions from Contra Costa College JazzaNova, Lawrence University, and dancer Randee Paufve. His musical education was granted by Lawrence University, Appleton WI, and New England Conservatory, Boston, MA, where he completed a Bachelor’s of Music, and a Master’s of Music, respectively. He has been on the New York Jazz Faculty since 2018