Cyrus von Hochstetter

As a pianist, composer, singer, songwriter and educator, Cyrus von Hochstetter has always forged his own creative path, listening to his own inner muse in developing a uniquely personal style. As a teacher, he is motivating youngsters to follow their individual musical instincts and interests. In addition to teaching piano, Cyrus developed an innovative composition class that encourages pupils to start envisioning their music right away. In pursuing their own avenues of creativity, they begin to explore the underpinnings of music theory. The public performances of pieces written by these young composers is a testament to the program’s success.

A firm believer in the transformative power of music, Cyrus directed the Two Bridges Music program in 2017 and 2018 and was also the guiding force behind the program’s free concert series for the Lower East Side community that exposes more children to live music. In the same vein, his periodic musical salon, “Piano on Park,” brings the work of diverse musicians before a dedicated audience.

With his extensive training in both classical and jazz, Cyrus has straddled many musical worlds. He has performed extensively as a pianist in concerts throughout the world—including in Switzerland, Israel, Hungary and the US— and with the band Cyrus von H and the Hat Music, playing at Joe’s Pub in NYC among other venues. The group, versatile in style and range, could move fluidly from performing Cyrus’s original compositions and songs - an amalgam of jazz, blues, folk, rockabilly and cabaret - to interpretations of Schönberg piano works—transformed by Cyrus for a jazz ensemble—to his rearrangements of pieces by Ellington and Gershwin.

Since 2008, Cyrus has studied piano and performance under Zitta Zohar, whose influence continues to be at the heart of his musical education.

Cyrus graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, where he was under the tutelage of jazz pianists Garry Dial and Jason Moran. He also studied counterpoint and music theory with Paul Caputo and earned a masters degree in interactive telecommunications from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

His recordings include “Hat Music,” an album of wide-ranging styles and influences featuring among others, Larry Campbell, Stephane Wrembel and Ryan Keberle. Cyrus is the winner of a Young Lions Jazz Award and a 2009 Downbeat Award for Best Performance.

Cyrus von H and the Hat Music

draws disparate worlds together into a cohesive and madly musical experience that defies classification.
Original songs by the pianist, singer and songwriter Cyrus von Hochstetter marry elements of jazz, folk and blues into dexterous solo and group performances, performed side by side with new arrangements of works by A. Schönberg.
 
Experimental, witty, sexy and surprising, Cyrus von H and the Hat Music grabs you by the gin joint and seduces you into a 1920’s speakeasy, feel-easy groove, lures you across Billboard charts into the scruff of coyote country, swings by the Mississippi Delta to holler the blues and finally, leaves you spent and coddled in a NYC nightclub, nearly straining to savor every last moment of his lush performance with the Hat Music.