As a composer and arranger I write music in a wide spectrum of styles and genres. I compose for solo piano, orchestras (large and small), and mixed instrument ensembles using ensembles of world and orchestral instruments. I perform these compositions on the piano, a wide array of synthesizers, and other instruments.

I graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston with a certificate in Composing and Orchestrating for Film and Television. 

I am available to work on client projects from my studio near Great Barrington (MA) and can accommodate most time contraints and budgets. All work is delivered online via my own secure website (josephgoldmusic.com). 

I was a participant with Chick Corea in his first Keyboard Workshop; I also studied jazz improvisation with Gary Burton. I have extensive training in both classical and jazz piano styles, performing with the Barrington Jazz Quartet and more recently with the 'Release the Penguins' Jazz Quartet. Some of my compositions and performances were for the Mahaiwe Theatre, the Starving Artist Cafe and the Olga Dunn Dance Company; I also performed jazz, blues and gospel genres as a trombonist in wind and brass ensembles, the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

My work for not-for-profits includes music for the Fairview Hospital annual Gala, the Berkshire Baby Box, providing safe sleep support for newborns, and Volunteers in Medicine, providing health care to low-income and under-insured Berkshire residents.

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Willow: in memory of Lyle Mays
(November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020)

Two years ago we lost a singular voice in the musical world, pianist and composer Lyle Mays. I have been an ardent fan since first hearing Lyle with the PMG at U. Mass. in Amherst in 1978. Watching him play has always reminded me of a willow tree moving with the musical winds he created with the group. His thin frame, long arms and strong fingers were like branches reaching out, caressing the keyboard; his wide mane of hair was a mass of wispy straw-colored strands — like thin, hanging branches of the willow swaying with the music. 

The deep, profound loss I felt from Lyle’s untimely death inspired me to write Willow, a longer work compared to my movie genre cues. It recalls several sounds and elements from his vast repertoire and was written for solo piano, orchestra and multi-textural synthesizers.

I hope you enjoy Willow and are inspired to go to the source and listen to his achingly beautiful compositions like Close to Home, Mirror of the Heart … and his final work, released after his death, Eberhard.