Don Glanden
Jazz Studies Program Director
A pianist, composer and educator, Don Glanden is currently professor of music at UArts, where he heads the graduate Jazz Studies program, and is Piano department chair for the school’s internationally recognized jazz program.
His success as an educator includes countless former students currently teaching at major universities, writing for music publications and touring with celebrated jazz groups.
Biography
Glanden earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from University of North Texas in Denton and a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Rutgers University. His private teachers included Kenny Barron, Sir Roland Hanna and Bernard Peiffer.
Prior to joining the faculty at UArts in 1996, Glanden was a full-time faculty member at Temple University, also in Philadelphia. Numerous universities—including Lincoln University in Pennsylvania; New England Conservatory, Boston; Thelonious Monk Institute (now the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, University of California at Los Angeles; Rowan University, Glassboro New Jersey; and West Chester University in Pennsylvania—have hosted his masterclasses, lectures and workshops in the areas of performance, composition, improvisation and jazz history.
In 2018, the University of Denver, Colorado, selected Glanden as its Visiting Marsico Scholar. The multidisciplinary residency included workshops, performances and classes with students in the university’s Lamont School of Music, as well as Media, Film and Journalism Studies.
Experience
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Glanden has performed in concerts, recording studios and clubs with many great jazz artists, including Patti Austin, Marcus Belgrave, Randy Brecker, Donald Byrd, Robin Eubanks, John Fedchock, Eddie Gomez, Dennis Irwin, Marc Johnson, Henry Mancini, Larry McKenna, John Riley, Terrel Stafford, John Swana and Ernie Watts.
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He has released two CDs as a leader: Only Believe, available from Cadence Jazz Records, and Sudden Life, available from Amazon or Dreambox Media.
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Glanden’s activities in the area of music scholarship include presentations to the American Studies Association, the International Association for Jazz Education and the International Trumpet Guild.
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He has also had numerous articles published in jazz magazines such as DownBeat, Jazz Improv and All About Jazz.
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Glanden produced and directed Brownie Speaks, the internationally acclaimed documentary about trumpet legend Clifford Brown. Brownie Speaks has been screened throughout the U.S., and at International Jazz Day in Paris and the Monterey Jazz Festival 2016.
Awards & Accolades
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Bob Weir called Glanden’s film, Brownie Speaks, “the best video of a leading jazz musician I have seen” in Jazz Journal.
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Sonny Rollins has hailed Brownie Speaks as “a great film about a great man.”
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He was named a Visiting Marsico Scholar, University of Denver, Colorado, in 2018.
Explore Don Glanden’s website.
Contact
dglanden@uarts.edu