Douglas Maher

Biography

Doug earned his B.M. (Jazz Guitar Performance) from Berklee College of Music 1977, M.M. (Jazz Pedagogy) from The University of Miami, and Music Education  1984, Certification from Central Connecticut State University 1987.  Doug is an experienced jazz educator and clinician, with over 30 years of teaching at the collegiate and high school level.  During 1987-2015 he was variously an adjunct instructor at Berklee College of Music, the University of Connecticut and Central Connecticut State University, where his assignments included directing jazz combo, big band, and jazz theory classes. From 2005-2015 he was an instructor at The Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, where he directed The Academy Big Band.  This ensemble was awarded 1st place in class at the 2010 Berklee College Jazz Festival, and also 1st place at the 2010 Mingus Festival at the Manhattan School of Music. Doug was formerly Director of Bands at Windsor High School from 1994-2005, where he was the 1999 Teacher Of The Year. Doug has over 40 years of performance experience in jazz and commercial music in Baltimore, Washington DC, New England and Florida. He has performed most recently with Miles Brown, at The Kennedy Center with the Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra, and Michael Finestein. In March 2015 he performed the world premier of “Glacier”, a concerto for electric guitar and orchestra, with the Bozeman, Montana Symphony Orchestra. His career began as guitarist with “The Army Blues,” the Jazz Ensemble of the U.S. Army Band 1977-1981.