Background
Raised in a musical home in Wisconsin, Ike learned from his father, gifted composer and arranger, Fred Sturm.
Raised in a musical home in Wisconsin, Ike learned from his father, gifted composer and arranger, Fred Sturm.
He serves as Music Director for the Jazz Ministry at Saint Peter’s Church in Manhattan. Ike received bachelor"s and master"s degrees from the Eastman School of Music and has been fortunate to perform with Gene Bertoncini, Donny McCaslin, Bobby McFerrin, Ben Monder, Ingrid Jensen, Steve Lehman, Maria Schneider, Kenny Wheeler and many others He has played on four Downbeat award-winning recordings as well as Steve Reich’s releases on Canteloupe and Nonesuch Records.
He has appeared with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Signal and Alarm Will Sound.
Commissioned by Saint Peter’s Church, Ike composed Jazz Mass as a large-scale work featuring choir, string orchestra and GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist Donny McCaslin. The recording received an outstanding 4 1/2 star rating and was named among the “Best of 2010″ in DOWNBEAT magazine.
Jazz Mass was premiered in Europe in 2011 at the historic Gedächtniskirche in Berlin, followed by Ike Sturm Ensemble tours of the United States. and Scandinavia in 2012 and 2013. Evergreen, Ike"s current band, recently recorded a new album to be released in early 2015.
CDs available at www.ikesturm.com.