Brandon Goldberg ’24 joined Pine Crest School as a seventh grade student, already an accomplished jazz pianist.
Throughout his Middle and Upper School years, he has not only performed on the Stacy Auditorium stage, but also as a guest pianist and composer for the Miami Symphony Orchestra, Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, and the Newport Jazz Festival, to name a few.
Brandon is ranked the number one jazz composer, jazz arranger, and jazz pianist in the United States. He has produced three critically acclaimed records with his own professional jazz trio and is the youngest finalist in the history of the Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition.
In 2022, Brandon was the winner of The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award, granted annually to encourage talented young jazz composers during the earliest stages of their careers. He is the youngest artist ever to receive the honor.
Brandon is a four-time winner of the DownBeat Student Music Awards in both the Jazz Soloist and Original Composition categories. The Awards are considered the most prestigious awards in jazz education.
Most recently, Brandon was recognized as a Winner with Distinction in the jazz/piano category at YoungArts. Every year, housands of performing, visual, and literary high school-age artists apply to YoungArts through a national competition. Award winners with distinction attend National YoungArts Week to collaborate with peers and develop their crafts with internationally recognized leaders in their fields. Award winners with distinction in their senior year are further eligible for nomination as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts—one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.
On campus, Brandon is a two-time Founder's Council Student Cultural Arts Series Award recipient and has performed countless times with his peers during concerts, plays, musicals, and student-driven events such as Playing for Change.
This year, Brandon was awarded the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award at the commencement ceremony for the Class of 2024. The Award is given to the graduating senior who has contributed to Fine Arts programs and possesses the attributes of the ideal artist: talent, discipline, and creativity combined with 21st century thinking skills.
His music teachers have said that Brandon is not only the finest music student that many of them have ever taught, but is also kind, dedicated, and always ready to share his talent and extraordinary musical ability.
Brandon will continue his studies next fall at The Juilliard School.