Giving

Don Sebesky (standing) with pianist Herbie Hancock and guitarist Wes Montgomery in 1967.

Musicians know the name Don Sebesky. Grammy Award voters know him for his 31 nominations and three winning recordings. Carlos Santana knows him as one of the few people to whom he ever lost a Grammy (to Sebesky’s Joyful Noise Suite in 2000). Nate Chinen knows him as the house arranger for Creed Taylor’s jazz label, responsible for the “worldly sophistication in a jazz-crossover lane” of the CTI albums of the 1960s and ’70s. The New York Philharmonic knows his versions of Sondheim tunes, which they performed on New Year’s Eve in 2019. Jason Robert Brown knows him as the orchestrator of his musical Parade, which premiered on Broadway in 1999 and recently won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, with Sebesky’s original charts. Herbie Hancock knows him for their work together on the 1967 album with Wes Montgomery. Barbara Streisand knows him as the arranger of her 2000 concert tour. John Pizzarelli knows him as the talented accordion player on his 1998 album of Beatles songs. Film buffs know his score for the Chet Baker documentary Let’s Get Lost, awarded the Critics Prize at the 1988 Venice Film Festival. MSM alumni of the late 1950s know him as the composition student of Vittorio Giannini and trombone player who left before graduating to gig in the bands of Kai Winding, Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson. MSM Jazz Arts majors know his best-selling orchestration textbook, The Contemporary Arranger.

Gerald (“Jerry”) Sebesky (BM ’62, MM ’63) knows him as all those things, but more importantly as a big brother, a teacher and a life-long influence. “Whatever success I’ve had in my career over the decades as a teacher and composer has been linked to my brother,” Jerry defers.

Five years his junior, Jerry often followed in Don’s footsteps, from playing trombone in the high school band, to writing songs, to attending MSM. “My brother was really my first teacher and continued to be my mentor with projects throughout our lives,” explains Jerry. “He always had the answer and was very patient. Besides music, he also introduced me to museums and fine art, especially the paintings of Van Gogh.”

Jerry earned a scholarship to MSM as an undergrad trombone major in 1959. Like Don, he had other interests (he’s also a fine bassist) and entered the School’s well-established graduate music education program upon graduation. “The MSM I remember on East 105th Street had such a family atmosphere,” he remembers. “I learned much from Dr. Howard Murphy and his book on theory. With his and Don’s help, my compositions and arrangements were getting better and better.”

A New Jersey teaching position and doctoral courses at Columbia followed, during which time he got his first publishing deal and authored his own musician’s guide, The Creative Music Theory Handbook. Jerry later established GJS Publishing, which produced over 400 diverse publications for concert band, chorus, stage band, strings and theater—many picked-up and licensed by studios such as Warner Brothers and Columbia Pictures.

In honor of Don, who passed away in April 2023, Jerry wanted to find a way to help future young composers and jazz musicians who are in need of scholarship—and to do something lasting in his brother’s memory.

Jerry Sebesky has made plans to establish endowed MSM scholarships with his estate planned gift and encourages like-minded others to join him in the School’s Galaxy Society.

Create your own legacy at Manhattan School of Music by including a gift designation in your will or other estate plan. Contact Susan Madden at 917-493-4115 or smadden@msmnyc.edu to learn more about how to create a legacy that meets your financial needs and charitable goals.