Pianist and composer Joe Mulholland is passionate about performing and teaching great popular music from the 1930’s to the present: Great American Songbook, Jazz, R’n’B and more. This found expression in his work as music director for Didi Stewart and Friends, an award-winning concert and event ensemble from 1985-1998. The group performed the music of Great American Songbook composers, as well as the next wave of great rock and pop singers and songwriters from the 60’s and 70’s. More than a dozen evening-length tribute shows played to sold-out houses in the Boston area. He continues to have an active free-lance career as jazz instrumentalist, composer, arranger and vocal accompanist. He has released six CD’s of original music for jazz sextet and trio/quartet. His last CD, “Runaway Train” contains eight new compositions for jazz trio. A large new collection from Sextet quartet and solo piano was released in the summer of 2023.
Joe is a Professor of Harmony and Jazz Composition at Berklee College of Music, teaching advanced core courses and upper-level electives. He chaired the department from 2005-2015. He has a special interest in the popular music of Brazil, and teaches a class at Berklee in the Harmony of Brazilian Song. He has lectured on harmony, improvisation and composition internationally. He also authored and teaches online classes in Jazz Composition and Contemporary Popular Music Theory for BerkleeOnline.