Ted Rosenthal

Rosenthal's classical/jazz crossover performances include solo and featured appearances with the Boston Pops, the Baltimore Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Tucson Symphony, and the Greater Palm Beach Symphony. His latest work includes adapting themes by Brahms, Schumann, Tchaikovsky and others into a mainstream jazz idiom. His first opera, Dear Erich, was premiered by the New York City Opera in January 2019 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Rosenthals's CDs as a leader showcase both his creative approach to standards and classics as well as his original compositions. His latest, The King and I (2006), features Rosenthal's jazz takes (with George Mraz on bass, Lewis Nash on drums) on songs from the classic musical. One Night in Vermont (2004), a duo performance with trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, explores great American standards in an inventive and improvisatory style.

Rosenthal regularly performs in jazz piano concerts, including at the 92nd Street Y with Bill Charlap and Dick Hyman. At the 2003 JVC Jazz Festival, he performed in, and co-produced with George Wein, "Piano Starts Here", also featuring Kenny Barron and Cedar Walton. Rosenthal has also appeared on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio and on NBC's Night Music with David Sanborn.

Rosenthal toured in the early 1990s with the last Gerry Mulligan Quartet, recording three CDs with Mulligan and performed in major jazz festivals throughout the world. One critic noted, "The rapport of the [Mulligan] group was amazing, particularly Gerry’s telepathic communication with outstanding pianist Ted Rosenthal [...] The byplay with Rosenthal left me with my jaw hanging down" (Gene Lees, The Jazz Letter). After Mulligan's death, Rosenthal became musical director of The Gerry Mulligan All Star Tribute Band, featuring Lee Konitz, Bob Brookmeyer and Randy Brecker. The group's CD, Thank You, Gerry!, was nominated for a Grammy award in 1998.

Rosenthal was the winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 1988, which launched his career as a solo artist, leading to the release of his first CD as a leader New Tunes, New Traditions, featuring Ron Carter, Billy Higgins and Tom Harrell; the album interweaves Thelonious Monk's with Rosenthal's original compositions.

Ted Rosenthal (born 1959) is an American jazz pianist. He was featured on David Sanborn's series Night Music, and has performed worldwide, both as a leader and as a sideman with many jazz greats, including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, and Jon Faddis. Rosenthal also has released ten CDs as a leader, which include new treatments and "derangements" of great American standards, jazz tunes and classical themes, as well as his original compositions. His ability to communicate both the creative and analytical aspects of jazz translates from the bandstand to the educational arena: he holds faculty positions at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and The New School.