Meet composer-pianist Cole Broderick
Cole Broderick has been passionate about the piano from the moment he began studying the instrument at age seven. Weekly lessons continued through high school with heavy emphasis on jazz and popular music.
Still in his teens when he began to study arranging and composition with Jerry Coker and Clifton Williams at the University of Miami, Broderick made campus history when he incorporated jazz with his classical performance in the senior recital. Greatly influenced in his college years by Oscar Peterson and Andre Previn, Broderick went on to receive impressive offers following his graduation with a degree in music. He opted instead to party, entertaining in bars and clubs between Fort Lauderdale and Lake Placid to support himself.
The musician’s bohemian lifestyle finally caught up with him, and in 1980, he resolved to make a fresh start. Returning to his Capital Region roots, Broderick winterized a rustic log cabin his father had built on the shores of Saratoga Lake in the 1930s and set about the business of getting his career back on track. After forming the Cole Broderick Quartet in 1992, Broderick recorded a demo tape of some of his original compositions and sent it to Festival Productions. The following year, his ensemble was booked to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Energized by the experience, Broderick recorded what would be the first in a collection of four CDs celebrating the glorious Seasons of Saratoga. The 4-CD box set subsequently received a Critic’s Choice citation from Billboard Magazine. The flurry of publicity that followed led to the playing of the maestro’s music on radio stations across the USA, Canada and parts of Europe. In addition, Broderick and his sizzling jazz ensemble were featured nationally on Bobby Flay’s Food Network TV program. Another high note came when Broderick received a personal accolade from FRASIER co-star David Hyde Pierce who wrote: "The jazz is as cool as it is hot ... obviously Saratoga has a good influence on all aspects of the arts, from dance to theater, from Balanchine to Broderick."
He has since dazzled fans at First Night and The Tulip Festival in Albany -- as well as opening for Esperanza Spalding when she performed live at Music Haven in Schenectady’s Central Park shortly before being honored as Best New Artist at the 2011 Grammy awards. Broderick has also performed at scores of private parties and corporate events, including fundraisers for regional and national not-for-profits, in settings such as The Troy Music Hall, The Glen Sanders Mansion in Schenectady and The Gideon Putnam and Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs.
Now primarily a solo artist whose repertoire spans from the 1920s to the 1980s, Broderick was tapped on the 50th anniversary of The Beatles arrival in the USA to open and close a series of NY Living Legacy lectures with his arrangements of some of the Fab Four’s most popular songs -- which he also performed as part of a landmark 2014 concert at The Egg Performing Arts Center in Albany.
When not tickling the ivories beneath a spotlight, Broderick enjoys keeping musical memories alive for those residing in assisted living centers throughout upstate New York. He also looks forward to introducing the younger generation to tunes of yesteryear through newly arranged piano renditions to be recorded during 2019 and 2020.
Broderick is now working on his eighth CD that will feature solo piano arrangements of best-selling hits by The Beatles.
For more information, email at cbroder1@twc.com
Cole Broderick has been passionate about the piano from the moment he began studying the instrument at age seven. Weekly lessons continued through high school with heavy emphasis on jazz and popular music.
Still in his teens when he began to study arranging and composition with Jerry Coker and Clifton Williams at the University of Miami, Broderick made campus history when he incorporated jazz with his classical performance in the senior recital. Greatly influenced in his college years by Oscar Peterson and Andre Previn, Broderick went on to receive impressive offers following his graduation with a degree in music. He opted instead to party, entertaining in bars and clubs between Fort Lauderdale and Lake Placid to support himself.
The musician’s bohemian lifestyle finally caught up with him, and in 1980, he resolved to make a fresh start. Returning to his Capital Region roots, Broderick winterized a rustic log cabin his father had built on the shores of Saratoga Lake in the 1930s and set about the business of getting his career back on track. After forming the Cole Broderick Quartet in 1992, Broderick recorded a demo tape of some of his original compositions and sent it to Festival Productions. The following year, his ensemble was booked to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Energized by the experience, Broderick recorded what would be the first in a collection of four CDs celebrating the glorious Seasons of Saratoga. The 4-CD box set subsequently received a Critic’s Choice citation from Billboard Magazine. The flurry of publicity that followed led to the playing of the maestro’s music on radio stations across the USA, Canada and parts of Europe. In addition, Broderick and his sizzling jazz ensemble were featured nationally on Bobby Flay’s Food Network TV program. Another high note came when Broderick received a personal accolade from FRASIER co-star David Hyde Pierce who wrote: "The jazz is as cool as it is hot ... obviously Saratoga has a good influence on all aspects of the arts, from dance to theater, from Balanchine to Broderick."
He has since dazzled fans at First Night and The Tulip Festival in Albany -- as well as opening for Esperanza Spalding when she performed live at Music Haven in Schenectady’s Central Park shortly before being honored as Best New Artist at the 2011 Grammy awards. Broderick has also performed at scores of private parties and corporate events, including fundraisers for regional and national not-for-profits, in settings such as The Troy Music Hall, The Glen Sanders Mansion in Schenectady and The Gideon Putnam and Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs.
Now primarily a solo artist whose repertoire spans from the 1920s to the 1980s, Broderick was tapped on the 50th anniversary of The Beatles arrival in the USA to open and close a series of NY Living Legacy lectures with his arrangements of some of the Fab Four’s most popular songs -- which he also performed as part of a landmark 2014 concert at The Egg Performing Arts Center in Albany.
When not tickling the ivories beneath a spotlight, Broderick enjoys keeping musical memories alive for those residing in assisted living centers throughout upstate New York. He also looks forward to introducing the younger generation to tunes of yesteryear through newly arranged piano renditions to be recorded during 2019 and 2020.
Broderick is now working on his eighth CD that will feature solo piano arrangements of best-selling hits by The Beatles.
For more information, email at cbroder1@twc.com