Pianist/composer Steve Sandberg and violinist Zach Brock masterfully blend classical, world music and jazz with the excitement of virtuosic improvisation – as well as engage listeners with broad-ranging and fascinating musical commentary.
They have been playing as a duo since 2016, the same year they appeared as founding members of the Steve Sandberg Quartet, which grew out of Mr. Sandberg’s desire to merge his lifelong study of classical Western music with his passion for jazz, Latin, and world music. From the beginning, they felt an intimate rapport in their playing that led them to want to explore the duo format.
They have performed as a duo starting with several appearances in libraries in the tristate area in 2016 (notably the Montclair Public Library, and the Westfield Memorial Library in New Jersey). In 2018, they received a grant from the Omomuki Foundation to perform together at the Foundation’s loft in Chelsea, NYC. (https://www.omomuki.org/omomuki-arts-grants/)
In 2019, they performed in New York’s Century Association, and in 2020, adapting to the necessities of performing in the time of co-vid, livestreamed a concert on Facebook from Zach’s front lawn in South Orange, New Jersey (a link to the video is one of the 5 virtual performances listed above in the application).
Also responding to the exigencies of our time, in 2020 they presented a virtual music workshop on zoom, which was attended by a diverse group of people from age 14 to 93 ranging from non-musicians to working professionals. The workshop centered on two themes: the importance of the daily personal practice of music in creating healthy and sustainable societies; and the value of music in transcending cultural and political differences and bringing people together in mutual appreciation and peace.
The concerts mix performances from the classical repertoire (Chopin, Ravel, Liszt, Debussy, Bartok, Bach and more) with the duo’s soaring improvisations on Steve’s originals that are based on these pieces and also draw from Latin, African, Balkan, Appalachian and East Indian traditions. One audience member describes the experience as listening to “music from a country I’ve never been to but always wanted to visit.” Steve & Zach also use the concerts as an opportunity to educate and engage their audiences with accessible commentary that draws them into their musical world.
Their music has been called by All About Jazz’s Dan Bilawsky, “…a breathtaking composite of world music, jazz, and classical expressions … merging into a single stream … an exultant music that’s incredibly personal and precise in its direction, yet universal in its language and ability to connect.”