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Dexter Birkenbeuel

1,405

Bold Points

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Nominee

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Finalist

Bio

Pianist, Organist, Producer and Vocalist DEXTER Birk has begun to make his mark on the NYC jazz scene as performer and music director. Originally from Chicago, Dexter began his career participating in countless regional and national jazz ensembles, and is currently under the tutelage of Jeremy Manasia and John Benitez at the Manhattan School of Music. As a musician I believe my main job is to entertain, but music can also provide real relief to people. It is the unique thing that unites everyone in the world. If you call for an F blues anywhere in the world, every musician will know what it is despite any language barrier. Music as a universal language connects people regardless of gender, nationality, financial status or ethnicity. Through song we can solve many problems. Sharing music with someone you have never met can instantly resonate with them. The experience—the joy of listening— can build trust. My goal is to share music and make a positive influence within a larger community. Generally speaking, I lost two years of what I had hoped would be the most incredible high school experience in Chicago—at Whitney Young. But then, there was a Chicago Teachers strike and then COVID19 shut Chicago down. Everything stopped. I lost many friends, my in-person music community, and my high school social experience. The only thing that saved my mind was music. I hope that through this website I can receive money and financial support in the form of scholarships to help me pursue my dream of being a world class Jazz Pianist.

Education

Manhattan School of Music

Bachelor's degree program
2022 - 2025
  • Majors:
    • Fine and Studio Arts
    • Visual and Performing Arts, General

Chicago Academy For Arts

High School
2021 - 2022

Whitney M Young Magnet High School

High School
2019 - 2021

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Bachelor's degree program

  • Graduate schools of interest:

  • Transfer schools of interest:

  • Majors of interest:

    • Music
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Music

    • Dream career goals:

      Full time musician

    • Student

      Manhattan School of Music
      2022 – Present3 years
    • IT Specialist - Intern

      Manhattan School of Music
      2024 – Present1 year
    • Model

      Jane Wade
      2025 – 2025
    • Organist

      Second Canaan Baptist Church
      2024 – Present1 year
    • Model

      Modeling - State Mgmt/Specimen Model Mgmt
      2023 – Present2 years
    • Pianist in various bands

      Self Employed
      2020 – Present5 years
    • NFT Composer and Performer

      Birk Creative
      2021 – Present4 years
    • Producing tracks and songs for business development

      Birk Creative
      Present

    Sports

    Weightlifting

    2018 – Present7 years

    Fitness

    Club
    2020 – Present5 years

    Research

    • Music

      Chicago Academy for the Arts/Manhattan School of Music — Studied under multiple mentors about Jazz theory.
      2018 – Present

    Arts

    • Manhattan School of Music

      Music
      2022 – Present
    • Ravinia Jazz mentors program

      Jazz Band
      Present
    • Chicago Young Masters

      Jazz Combo
      Present
    • CYSO

      Chicago Youth Orchestra
      Present

    Public services

    • Volunteering

      Thanksgiving Dinner, for Alderman Walter Burnett, Ward 27 — Serving food
      2015 – 2015
    • Volunteering

      Merit School of Music — Librarian
      2018
    • Volunteering

      European American Associates — Worker
      2017 – 2017

    Future Interests

    Advocacy

    Politics

    Volunteering

    Philanthropy

    Entrepreneurship

    Sewing Seeds: Lena B. Davis Memorial Scholarship
    Since I was three I had a natural attraction to the piano. I first started with notes and sounds but gradually came to a point where my mother decided to put me into lessons. I began classical piano lessons under the tutelage of Elizabeth Newkirk at Sherwood music school in Chicago where I studied numerous classical pieces. At the time (which I didn't know) I would be improvising pieces by accident. I would be playing pieces by ear, learning whole songs based off of my lessons. I always had trouble staying on the page because I felt it could not contain my creativity. Nevertheless, I continued classical lessons throughout middle school and high school. I started studying under Ann Birman at Merit School of Music after receiving the tuition free scholarship award. At this time, my father started pressure for me to begin playing Jazz piano. The program had a Jazz band and I decided to take part and attend some of the classes/big band. I started to enjoy this and after a while, I eventually started studying Jazz Piano with Steve Million. I was currently in high school at Whitney M. Young magnet high school during this time. I decided to join the Jazz big band. To my surprise I wasn't as good as I thought. My technique was all over the place, my harmonic understanding, everything was a mess. I decided to lock in. After a few months of practicing and working, I was the second piano chair in the Whitney M. Young Magnet HS Jazz band but suddenly COVID hit the states. I was then thrown into full virtual learning where I started to struggle with the workflow. Virtual learning was an ideal learning situation due to the fact that I mostly learn hands on. After a year and half of this I was approaching my senior year of high school. My family and I decided that my last year would be best spent in-person learning. I was given the blessing of free time. At this point my career changed forever. It was here that I finally decided to pursue music as my career. Going into my first year of college I was thrown into a world of music which was extremely unexpected and challenging but reminded me of exactly what I needed. Similar to my development through high school, I was put in a position where I was behind in many musical areas. I became incredibly motivated to learn and reach the level of my peers. It was during my later Sophomore year and current Junior year I have reached yet another pivotal point in my music career. The goal is to build my musical voice. In the later months of Sophomore year I started to write more original music. My theory class at the time resented me with an assignment to write a song based on harmony from past music. It was during this class that I realized that I could not only take advantage of the teachers, but take advantage of the assignments to write beautiful music. I composed my first composition called “Moonbeams.” This song carried through to my current year. Ever since those first notes my life has been changed forever and I fell in love with music. I will continue to pursue music forever. The goal is bring people into reality with music and open their ears and take them out of their own subconscious for the time they hear my song, and hopefully after as well.
    Creative Arts Scholarship
    My favorite musical event was when I first performed jazz piano in front of a live audience at Merit School of Music. It was great. I felt like Michael Jordan going for a three-pointer with :10 on the clock in the last game of the finals. I immediately got in the zone and played. It was incredible. Because I had learned to read music during my classical training, I was placed into a lead piano role without really knowing what to do or play. I fell in love with jazz. I started to listen to the jazz greats all the time on my phone, on YouTube and on my way to school, and I was learning. I spent hours searching and listening to all the possible artists and sounds ranging from Ellington to Coltrane. I was blown away by one musician in particular. His name was Kenny Kirkland. Kenny isn't your everyday pianist, he was an influential jazz musician who inspired a wave of musical ideas in the 90’s which hold true even to today. Although Kenny’s musical career was short lived, in the time he did he was featured on numerous albums and recordings. His style of playing and melodic ideas were reflected off of numerous pianists from earlier years. He was a combination of different prominent styles and he could play them all. Although I only recently discovered his playing, transcribing his solos and understanding his playing has brought my playing to a new level. Since I discovered his playing, I have learned multiple ways to manipulate chord changes and rhythm in ways I didn't know were possible. After listening to his playing on the song Mr J.C, I started a whole new approach to not only the notes, but the way the notes sounded. How to use my fingers to play the notes in different ways and how to alter the sound of the piano. This ranged from playing lightly with more articulation to applying a certain hand technique in playing licks. I would go into specifics about the melodic component but I could go on for hours about that. Kenny Kirkland has had an immense impact on my playing in a rhythmic/melodic sense. There are so many parts of music and I haven't even opened past the first chapter yet. Kenny Kirkland helped me get past some of the first pages into jazz harmony and I am grateful I heard his music.
    Bold Music Scholarship
    The song Lush Life is a song originally made by Billy Strayhorn when he was 14. It has incredible harmony rotating around multiple key centers throughout the song. The depth in harmony grasps my interest every time I listen to it. It is played in this recording by one of my favorite pianists, Chick Corea. He dives into such harmonic development of chords straying from the original chord structure he takes the song and turns it into its own. Every time I listen to his rendition it lights a spark which opens my mind to new melodic ideas and song ideas. The first time I heard this song I was sitting in the car. I played it in my headphones and instantly when I got home spent 4 hours at the piano playing the song and learning it. I then branched out developing melodic motifs which sprung from the original and eventually made a song of my own. After this I transcribed the version I enjoyed so much and grabbed bits and pieces of it and applied it to my own version. Every time I listen to this song it inspires me to create.
    Bold Goals Scholarship
    Pursuing piano has been a lifelong journey. I started when I was 4 with classical piano playing numerous concerts and recitals and building my technique. I spent hours a day learning certain pieces building up the foundations of my piano skills. I had to deal with the struggle of learning multiple pieces while also memorizing them. It took many years of failure to understand that piano is what I wanted to do. As soon as covid hit I was stuck with a massive roadblock. I had to make a decision between piano or anything else. I was given hours and hours of free time to practice and make use of it. It wasn't until I started to play more live gigs that I realized that it was what I wanted to do. I was on stage playing with a band making decisions real time all because I spent the time practicing. It felt incredibly natural and as an added benefit I got paid! At that moment I broke through a mental barrier and knew exactly what I wanted to do in life.
    Dexter Birkenbeuel Student Profile | Bold.org