Gregory Amerind (b. 1957) has been performing since the age of 5 studying piano, trumpet and voice throughout his school years, eventually majoring in music and theater at UCLA and Cal State University, Northridge, and at Arizona State University where he received the Bachelor’s degree in Music Education, Master of Music degree in Voice Performance, and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in Choral Conducting with a Jazz emphasis. Dr. Amerind has also been a private voice instructor for over 30 years. A songwriter and professional singer for many years in Los Angeles, his career includes stops in Musical Theater, nightclubs and concert venues, most notably with Pacific Jazz & Electric, a Vocal Jazz ensemble he co-founded and for which he wrote and arranged much of the material; and studios, where he was often called upon to record demos for LA songwriters as well as for commercial, TV and Radio, and industrial projects. He was a featured soloist with Lionel Hampton and his big band, and has also performed with entertainers such as Ann Jillian, John Astin and Patrick Duffy in various projects, as well as appearing briefly in the film The Jazz Singer with Neil Diamond and Sir Lawrence Olivier.

 

Relocating to Arizona in 1997, he has served as soloist, composer, arranger, and director of the SGI-USA Arizona Cactus Chorus, a lay Buddhist community group devoted to the cause of world peace through music and cultural exchange. He had the honor of conducting a 300-voice interfaith choir singing "We Are One" at Phoenix's Chase Field in commemoration of the September 11 attacks on America. He founded Arizona State University’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Heatwave in 2009, serving as its director until 2013, was the Assistant Artistic Director for the Phoenix Boys Choir from 2007-2015 and is currently adjunct music faculty at Mesa Community College as well as Estrella Mountain Community College. He has performed with Desert Dance Theater, Oasis Vocal Jazz (formerly Phoenix Vocal Jazz), and Canto Vivo (Dr. Craig Peterson, director). He is currently the director of the Nash Vocal Jazz Ensemble in Phoenix. He formerly served as Western Region chair as well as National Chair for Vocal Jazz in the ACDA (American Choral Directors Association).

 

As a composer, his catalogue includes dozens of traditional choral and jazz vocal ensemble arrangements and compositions as well as over 150 songs in the genres of classical, pop, jazz, rock, R & B and cabaret tunes. His music has been performed by professional, Jr. High, High School and Collegiate choirs, and his solo CD, "Late Boomer," a collection of original jazz-influenced vocal compositions is available online at CD Baby and at most digital download sites.