Seth Greenberg

Education and Teaching Experience

Dr. Seth Greenberg was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. He began his guitar studies shortly after his twelfth birthday with Mark Burkert . By the age of 13, he was taking lessons with Jazz Guitarist extraordinaire Jimmy Bruno. As Jimmy's protégé, he would spend the next seven years under Jimmy's tutelage. Interested in broadening his student's horizons, Jimmy introduced book authored by the great jazz pianist-educator Jimmy Amadie. Such an introduction would lead to improvisational and harmonic studies with Amadie for nearly ten years. The two great mentors would help earn him the guitar chair in the Pennsylvania All-State Jazz Band two years in a row (1993-94).

After graduating from high school, he was awarded a scholarship to The University of the Arts where he would complete his Bachelor's degree in jazz guitar performance in 1999. For the next four years, he kept a busy performing and teaching schedule at one time teaching for six different music programs. In 2003, he moved to Claremont, California and accepted a scholarship to the Claremont Graduate University where he completed a Master's degree in classical guitar performance studying with Jack Sanders. He completed a PhD. in Musicology in 2009. His dissertation, entitled "Billy Bean: The Life and Music a Jazz Guitar Legend", is an in-depth tome about the unsung jazz guitar great.

Aside from his private studio, Dr. Greenberg currently teaches at Mt. San Jacinto College,and the Claremont Community School of Music. He has also has contibuted as a guest instructor to the Jimmy Bruno Guitar Institute.

Performance Background

From the age of sixteen, he has performed professionally. Influenced by the music of Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Stan Getz and Miles Davis, he was soon leading jazz combos at venues in and around Philadelphia.

Soon after relocating to the Los Angeles area, he found himself in demand, performing in both solo and group settings. His versatility as a musician has landed him performances and recordings in jazz, classical, pop and rock genres. Among his credits are jazz bass virtuoso Jennifer Leitham, Grammy winning vocalist Nmon Ford, jazz-latin vocalist Gina Saputo, and pop-rock vocalists Kuh Ledesma and Pops Fernandez. In addition to jazz concerts, he continues to present classical recitals on the guitar and Vihuela as a soloist as well as in duos and trios. The most recent being a guitar trio recital at UCLA's Powel Library.

In addition to commerical and private arenas, Dr. Greenberg's musical talents have been called upon by non-profit organizations such as the American Red Cross and City of Hope.