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FULL BIO by Morgan Enos

Steven Feifke is one of New York City’s preeminent pianists, composers, orchestrators, arrangers, and educators. The youngest ever GRAMMY winner for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in Recording Academy history, Feifke has been aweing audiences in NYC and beyond for more than a decade — whether in his trio, septet, big band, or any other format of expression.

DownBeat magazine has declared his music to exude “an air of infectious joy,” and named him to their “25 for the Future” class of 2024. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist, an Avid Sibelius Artist, and has appeared on more than 45 albums to date. He has also written music for hit TV shows like “The Masked Singer,” “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” “Impractical Jokers,” “Animaniacs,” and numerous world-class big bands and orchestras around the globe including Metropole Orkest, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and more.

For all his boundless ambition and creativity, Feifke’s aim is a pure and simple one, far afield from the limelight:

“What I hope to do with my music is to spread love and kindness and strength, and bring myself and others peace, through an art form that I truly believe can transcend all discourse,” Feifke says. “That’s what I believe to be my mission in life right now.”

Feifke was born on June 21, 1991, in Lexington, Massachusetts, to South African parents. At four, he began playing the piano; at nine, he started writing music. One of Feifke’s first teachers, Susan Capestro, taught him composition and jazz improvisation — and introduced him to formative albums, in Count Basie’s The Atomic Mr. Basie, Wynton Kelly’s Kelly Blue, and McCoy Tyner’s Infinity. 

Feifke went on to study jazz in a more focused manner at the New England Conservatory high school preparatory program; he played in its big band under the direction of then director, Ken Schaphorst. In 2009, he moved to New York City to attend NYU where he majored in jazz composition and minored in economics.

During his time at NYU, Feifke studied with leading lights in the field like pianists Don Friedman and Jean Michel Pilc, as well as composer Rich Shemaria, tenor saxophonist Rich Perry, trumpeter Brian Lynch, trombonist Alan Ferber, and drummer Tony Moreno.

His studies, however, with Gil Goldstein proved to be of particular importance, as Gil introduced him to the career path of a composer/arranger/orchestrator. Gil in particular became a mentor to Feifke; he played a critical role in nurturing Feifke’s acumen as a writer.

“When I studied with Gil, that’s when I started to realize that writing music for a living was a job that you could have,” Feifke says. “Part of what invigorated my drive to become a composer, arranger, and orchestrator was because of my love for writing, and my experience with Gil.”

Between his junior and senior years, Feifke worked a cruise ship gig and booked his first tour. In 2010, he started his septet. In 2011, he was selected as a semifinalist for the Thelonious Monk Jazz Piano Competition.

Throughout his college years, Feifke pursued numerous live performance opportunities in NYC, and formed his first group: The Steven Feifke Septet, which can be heard on 2015’s Peace in Time, featured trumpeter Benny Benack III, alto saxophonist Andrew Gould, and Chad Lefkowitz-Brown on tenor saxophone. The rhythm section consisted of guitarist Alex Wintz, bassist Raviv Markovitz, and drummer Jimmy Macbride.

In these contexts, Feifke gigged prodigiously across New York City, slowly transitioning from the septet format to a trio format at clubs like the Blue Note, Smalls, and Dizzy’s at Jazz at Lincoln Center. “Doing the trio was kind of odd at first, because I was the one on display all the time,” Feifke adds. “It took me a while to find my own sound as a trio bandleader, and learn how to showcase the trio, and feel comfortable showcasing myself through that music.” 

As far as the septet? “It’s interesting, because you can treat the three horns as your right hand on the piano,” Feifke explains. That being said, “I was starting to hear things for the septet that could not be accomplished with three voices.” In the end, musical curiosity won out and in 2012 as a senior in college, Feifke debuted his big band at the 92NY in Tribeca, and continued to nurture one of his primary musical gifts: letting every musician in his ensemble shine.

In 2013, Feifke graduated from NYU. He entertained interviews at consulting and marketing firms, but in the end his love for music won out. If not now, then when? Feifke pondered to that end. And so he began working as a professional musician. In addition to performing and touring, Feifke also began teaching piano and composition; every dollar he earned as an educator, he devoted to living expenses. And the money he made from performance, he put away and saved for recording his bands. Around 2014, Feifke started recording his big band — although he only had the budget for two tracks.

“I’m the son of two immigrants from South Africa, and they had — and probably still have — that immigrant philosophy, which is something you can only really understand if your parents are immigrants,” he explains. “My mom and dad both encouraged me to pursue something outside of music. When I decided to go into music, they supported me to the fullest extent possible, and still do.”

It was traveling through the grapevine that Feifke could not only play, but write.

In 2015, Feifke began receiving his first commissions, both from individuals and organizations. One highlight was a 45-minute arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue” for big band and classical piano, with interconnected jazz incubators 23Arts and Catskill Jazz Factory. All the while, Feifke persisted in recording his big band — still, in two-song chunks, as per his finances, all while getting evermore commissions.

Around this time, Feifke happily realized he was in the music game for the long haul — and he wanted to drill much deeper into composition and orchestration. So he decided to redouble his educational efforts at the Manhattan School of Music, from where he graduated in 2018 with a master’s degree in jazz composition.

“I always wanted to study with Jim McNeely,” Feifke says. “He's been a huge hero of mine ever since I played one of his charts when I was in high school called ‘Extra Credit.’ So at MSM, I finally got the opportunity to study with Jim.” He also studied with saxophonist Dave Liebman and classical composer and orchestrator David MacDonald. Throughout his degree program, Feifke continued working and touring with artists like bassist and vocalist Katie Thiroux and Broadway singer Santino Fontana.

In 2020, Feifke taught virtually online, released his superlative big band album Kinetic, and gave weekly virtual performances with his then-girlfriend, now-wife, saxophonist Alexa Tarantino — through which the couple raised and donated more than $15,000 for charity.

During this time, Feifke and Tarantino also started an online jazz education platform called A Step Ahead, where they taught theory, improvisation, history, and more to over 150 students worldwide. A Step Ahead featured guest artists as diverse and revered as Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Cécile Mclorin Salvant, Sherrie Maricle, and Jeff Coffin.

This turned out to be a very fruitful creative period of Feifke’s life. He released several more albums as a leader — including the 2021 holiday album Season’s Swingin’ Greetings with trumpeter and singer Benny Benack III. That year’s Prologue was a collection of his big band’s early recording sessions. In that time, Feifke also became a Yamaha and Avid Sibelius artist; he also endorsed the eyewear brand Salt Optics.

In 2022, he and co-leader, trumpeter Bijon Watson, released Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, — an album with a mission of showcasing and celebrating generational diversity to strengthen the tradition of mentorship that has shaped and defined the jazz idiom since its earliest beginnings. The album went on to win a GRAMMY in 2023 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album; Feifke is the youngest winner in this category in GRAMMY history.

In total, Feifke has appeared on more than 45 albums, and has given guest lectures at Yale, Berklee College of Music, NYU, Jazz at Lincoln Center, UT Austin, NIU, and other institutions.

His writing clients include Metropole Orkest, Christian McBride, Christian Sands, the Toronto Symphony, Veronica Swift, Diva Jazz Orchestra, Chad LB, Mack Avenue Records, the Manhattan School of Music, NYU, Chris Botti, Masquerade Opera Foundation, Braxton Cook, Michael Dease, and many more.

Today, Feifke tours with his trio, his big band, and the Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra — and continues to perform as a sideman. His notable tours include festivals and concert halls as far as Colombia, Thailand, Ecuador, and Italy — as well as across the United States. 

In his free time, Feifke enjoys reading, running, lifting weights, and playing chess — and, of course, listening to music.