About
David DeMotta is a jazz pianist, educator, and music scholar based in the New York City area. He maintains an active career as a performer, university instructor, and private teacher, with extensive experience teaching jazz performance, jazz history, music theory, world music, improvisation, and applied piano.
David DeMotta is a jazz pianist, educator, and researcher based in the New York area. He performs regularly as a bandleader and sideman. His recent album, Everything I Love, features bassist Paul Gill and drummer Jason Tiemann in a program of standards and original compositions.
He holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the CUNY Graduate Center, where his research focused on the improvisational vocabulary and rhythm of Bud Powell; his work on Powell has been published in Jazz Perspectives.
As an educator, DeMotta has taught at Hunter College (CUNY), Montclair State University, William Paterson University, and Princeton University, in subjects ranging from jazz history and analysis to music theory, world music, American vernacular styles, ensemble direction, and applied piano. He also teaches privately from his home studio in Oradell, New Jersey.
Press
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University Teaching
Hunter College, CUNY
2012–Present
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Music Theory Fundamentals · History of Jazz · World Music · Evolution of Black Music in the Americas · Jazz and Popular Music Combos · Hunter Jazz Ensemble · Private Piano Instruction
Montclair State University
2022–Present
Adjunct Professor of Music
Introduction to Jazz · Diverse Worlds of Music · Jazz Performance Practicum · Graduate Seminar in Historical and Theoretical Studies · Private Instruction in Jazz Piano and Improvisation
William Paterson University
2017–2022
Adjunct Professor
Jazz History and Analysis I & II · Music Theory Fundamentals · Understanding Jazz: History and Appreciation
Princeton University
2012
Lecturer
Introduction to the Evolution of Jazz Styles