Biography
FREDERICK HARRIS - pianist, composer, drummer, educator, has done extensive work as concert and jazz pianist, music director, educator and coach in S.F. bay area. He has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Higgins, Charlie Haden, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Rebecca Parris, Kurt Elling, Chico Freeman, Billy Hart, and others, as well as bay area artists, including The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, ex-bay area trumpeter Eddie Henderson, Eddie Marshall, Madeline Eastman and Dr. Margie Baker. He is a recitalist, recently doing concerts and master classes in Arizona (USA) sponsored by Sherman Clay/ Steinway&Sons, with engagements pending in Portland, OR (USA). He has toured extensively in the U.S. and abroad, with Idris Ackamoor, the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church, and with Chico Freeman/The LEADERS. Frederick is also a recipient of the 2007 Cultural Equity Grant For Individual Artists from the San Francisco Arts Commission. Blastin’ Barriers: From Beethoven Through Bebop And Beyond is the first of a new series of piano performances, exploring the interrelationships of varying musical genres at the keyboard, and is a continuation of the concerts Frederick offered in Az, with Steinway.

For the last 15 years has been arranger/co-music director with Idris Ackamoor and Cultural Odyssey, having recorded 3 albums and performed in numerous productions and tours. Other arranging work includes such for The Dynamic Miss Faye Carol and other bay area artists. In addition to his work with Cultural Odyssey, he has been a Minister of Music/co musical director at the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church (SF) for 16 years. His experience in musical theater includes over 20 years of rehearsal/stage piano and percussion (drum set) work in various theater houses in the bay area (USA) and Rochester, NY(USA), including Theaterworks, the Lorraine Hansberry Theater and the California Theater Center. Has also been Music Director for professional and high school musical productions, including the FANTASTICKS at the California Theater Company (‘05), and at Mercy High School, SF (CA, USA), since 2005.

As an educator, he has taught music in a wide range of institutions for more than 15 years. His current faculty positions include the Stanford Jazz Workshop (Stanford University) and RCI’s Jazz Camp West. He has also taught and performed in a range of community-based programs, from churches to workshops in schools, under Stanford Jazz Workshop, Center For Urban Arts, Hills Bros. Coffee, Cultural Odyssey, Black Repertory Group, St. John Coltrane A.O.C. and other organizations. In addition to his teaching at Stanford, he has also taught at San Jose State University, and teaches privately. Frederick holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in Piano Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.