An important part of Ascenda Music’s mission is making the high quality music of our partners more widely available. Explore the music of these talented arrangers and their unique pieces of music written for a variety of instrumentations and skill levels.
With 27 years as a high school band director, he has inspired countless young musicians while serving as a Music Specialist for the Phoenix Union High School District. From 1999 to 2017, Barry Black directed the Valley Big Band, fostering a love for jazz in the community. As the founding member of the Barry Black Saxophone Quartet, he continued to innovate and perform with passion. A proud graduate of Northern Arizona University, Mr. Black embodies excellence and commitment to the arts.
Gerry discovered orchestral music at Brevard Music Camp and later studied at Juilliard, performing with the Metropolitan Opera and touring Asia. Gerry held positions with the Tucson Symphony, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, and St. Louis Symphony, where he played for 27 years.
His career highlights include performing Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the San Francisco Opera, recording with the San Francisco Symphony, and playing at Carnegie Hall. Gerry has toured globally, performed at festivals such as Tanglewood and Interlochen, and played everything from jazz and salsa to Broadway and opera. A dedicated teacher and founding member of STL Trombones, Gerry continues to share his passion for performing and recording, as well as for arranging for trombone choir, chamber orchestra, and more.
Gregor Hübner
Gregor Huebner is an award-winning, Grammy -nominated composer and violinist, celebrated by audiences and critics alike for his visionary work across genres. His music has been described by The New York City Jazz Record as “challenging and vivid… seamlessly incorporat[ing] chamber elements with Avant Garde Jazz.”
Born in Stuttgart, Huebner lives in between New York and Munich. As a member of Sirius Quartet, Richie Beirach/Gregor Huebner Duo, El Violin Latino, and Berta Epple and his Munich Composers Collective, he performed at many festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival, Kork Festival Irland, Tiblisi Jazz Festival and the Bell Atlantic Festival in New York.
Huebner’s collaborations with Richie Beirach and George Mraz have yielded three critically acclaimed albums, including the Latin Grammy-nominated Round About Federico Mompou. In 2017 he won the Grande Prize in the New World Composers Competition of the New York Philharmonic.
