Jeff Dershin
Ideal for:
Community and
Senior CentersLibraries, Museums and Historical Associations
Special Events
Private, Corporate
and Cocktail PartiesCommunity Centers
Fundraisers
Jeff Dershin signed his first recording contract with Mercury Records at the age of 18. Educated at SUNY Binghamton, Juilliard and West Chester University, he has spent four decades as an entertainer and music teacher.
A versatile and engaging pianist and vocalist with an extensive repertoire, Jeff has played at countless private and public events. He has performed with the Bucks County Symphony, hosted “Brown-Bag It with the Arts” (Doylestown’s weekly summer arts series shown on Comcast), been an “Artist-in-Residence” in the local school system and has, in his community, served as an ambassador of the arts in numerous Career Days. A member of the Bucks County Chamber of Commerce, Jeff was also for 20 years a member of New York Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians.
Jeff has toured Europe with the seminal rock/fusion band Sweet Smoke; accompanied Pat Benatar and Patty Smyth; served on the faculties of public and private schools; directed musical plays both in schools and off-Broadway; and has written original music (traditional and electronic) for theater, dance and film.
He currently performs in and around the Philadelphia area, while keeping a busy teaching schedule at his studio in Bucks County.
The Jeff Dershin Trio and Larger Ensembles
The Jeff Dershin Trio -- with Jeff on piano and vocals, Steve Burke on bass and vocals, and Marty Friedman on sax, trumpet, and vocals -- has been performing across the Philadelphia metropolitan area for around 7 years. Starting with a core repertoire of American standards (Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers & Hart, and more), the trio plays a wide range of styles from light jazz to Broadway show tunes to Motown, and love to harmonize on the rock repertoire of the 60s and 70s. Once, they even played a Dixieland-themed birthday party in Bucks County and led an actual parade of happy partygoers! For dancing, the group can expand to a Quartet by adding drummer Lew Liebman, and for larger functions such as weddings, they are joined by accomplished female vocalist Michelle Wiley.
Programs Include:
A Century of Jewish Music
What are “Jewish songs?” Do they have to be sung in Hebrew, Yiddish, or Ladino? Was the song created by a Jewish composer or songwriter? Or maybe performed by a Jewish singer or instrumentalist? Explore these questions and many others in a high-energy program with musical entertainer and educator Jeff Dershin, who shares a delightful array of songs beloved by Jews and non-Jews alike—including Broadway and Klezmer music; Hebrew songs, both ancient and modern; and many best-loved Yiddish songs—plus, a chance to sing along!
Songs My Mother Taught Me
For decades, mothers have been a subject of popular songs—whether we sing about her in Italian (like Connie Frances), Yiddish (like Sophie Tucker), or English (like Al Jolson). Explore the subject of motherhood with Jeff Dershin, in a program that is sometimes sentimental, sometimes humorous, and always entertaining.
Great Music from 1950s TV
Can you remember the theme music from I Love Lucy? What about the music from Rawhide, Bonanza, or Have Gun, Will Travel? Enjoy an hour of musical time-traveling with pianist and educator Jeff Dershin as he explores the fun memories of 1950s television!
Love is in the Air: Tin Pan Alley Takes on the Subject of Romance
So, is love all it’s cracked up to be? Is it really “’S Wonderful” as George and Ira Gershwin wrote in 1927, or is it "…the root of all midnight blues” as Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote in 1937? Pianist and educator Jeff Dershin offers a lively program featuring songs by Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and many more.
Music of the ‘50s
Do you recall the wonderful music that came just before rock ‘n’ roll, such as Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore” and Rosemary Clooney’s “Hey, There?” What about the great Broadway shows like Guys and Dolls and My Fair Lady? But then, suddenly, there was Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the world was never the same. Let’s travel back in musical time and visit a wonderful era: the ‘50s!