Edward Knoeckel, DMA, M.Ed, M.M.

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Edward Knoeckel (b. 1979) is a multistylistic pianist and composer who has performed around the world with his compositions featured on numerous national and international stages.

His teachers in piano and jazz performance have included Neal Larrabee, Earl MacDonald (University of Connecticut), Eddie Palmieri and Wade Beach (USAF Airmen of Note). His composition teachers have included Dan Kellogg (Yale University), Michael Timpson and Chihchun Chi-sun Lee (University of South Florida), Stephen Gryc (University of Hartford), George Crumb and Dinu Ghezzo (New York University), and Mark Camphouse (George Mason University). In music theory he has studied with Sang-Hie Lee (University of South Florida), Gary Karpinksi (UMASS Amherst) and William Caplin (McGill University).

Edward has written for a wide range of ensembles and styles to include choral, wind ensemble, chamber, big band, musical theater, and over a dozen independent films in the states and Lebanon. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Hartford Symphony, New Haven Symphony, University of Connecticut Symphony, and the George Mason University Wind Ensemble. As a film composer his scores have won awards at the Middletown Independent Film Festival and the Bentonville International Film Festival. He was the composer for the U.S. Air Force’s Holiday in Blue PBS special.

His works have been performed around the country by Grammy winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird, baritone Richard Novak, soprano Jolie Rock-Brown, and the Dimensions in Blue Air Force Big Band.

As a pianist, he was the house pianist at the Grand Floridian Hotel at Disney World, keyboardist with the Downtown Disney Band. He has performed with the Puerto Rico Symphony, the Coast Guard Band, the President’s Own Marine Band, and recorded with Latin music artist Dan Salazar and the Ray González Latin Big Band Guakía. He served in the U.S. Air Force as an active-duty pianist in the U.S. Air Force Band of the West performing at international jazz festivals and with jazz artists such as Wyclif Gordon and Bob Reynolds. He serves in the Army as pianist with the 29th Div. Army National Guard Band.

He has taught community college and university courses on theory, composition, jazz performance, film music theory and appreciation. His research areas of interest are in the intersection of music theory and narrative analysis with particular attention on teleological expressions in film scores. His research on film music theory has been presented at national conferences for the Society of Music Theory, the Society of Composers, Inc. and at the National Archives in Washington, DC. As an author he has had peer reviewed articles published on film music analysis, sound design, and online music course design. His book, Music in Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Art and Craft of Film Music is published by Kendall-Hunt Publishing.