Kaufman, Jeffrey
Jeffrey Kaufman attended and received degrees from The Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School of Music. Amongst his teachers are Nicolas Flagello, Ludmilla Ulehla, and David Diamond. He has received awards and grants from: The New York State Council on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation, The Alice Ditson Fund, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Meet the Composer, ASCAP Standard Panel Awards, Gold Award: The International Film and TV Festival of New York York, and is a Three time Grammy Award nominee. He is published by Theodore Presser, Lawson Gould, and several other imprints. In the early 1970s, he became one of the first Music Producers for National Public Radio, for which he created and produced MEET THE COMPOSER with host-moderator Martin Bookspan, which was heard on over 200 radio stations weekly for 6 years.
Early in his career, he became Music Director for the Woodstock superstar Richie Havens and went on to produce many recordings and concerts with Mr. Havens and other pop/rock personalities. In 1978, he created the record label Pheonix USA (a label devoted to contemporary music) with an emphasis on American Composers. He has also created several other labels that produced and distributed various styles of Classical, Jazz, and Instrumental Music.
Under the auspices of Absolut Vodka, several productions were created and produced by Stratta Philips Productions, including the 5-year series ABSOLUT CONCERTO, for which he was a consultant. Works by some of America’s most outstanding composers, including:
- Aaron Jay Kernis
- Michael Torke
- Morton Gould
- Ned Rorem
- David Diamond
- William Bolcom
- Richard Danielpour
These were presented at Lincoln Center’s Philharmonic Hall with The New Jersey Symphony, The American Symphony Orchestra, and The Orchestra of Saint Lukes.
Most recently, he became a member of the producing team for the hit Broadway Musical AN AMERICAN IN PARIS.
