Reno De Stefano, Ph.D. is an active Montreal-based jazz guitarist-composer. He has shared the stage with American virtuoso guitarists Joe Diorio and Sid Jacobs and has performed with many Canadian musicians, including James Gelfand, Lorraine Desmarais, Norman Lachapelle, Luc Beaugrand, Ron Di Lauro, Skip Bey, Brian Hurley, Jean-François Groulx, Muhammad Abdul Al-Khabyyr, and others. As a leader, he has recorded three CDs with original compositions featuring Michel Donato, Kevin Dean, André White, Dave Laing and Alec Walkington. Reno De Stefano has also performed at Montreal’s prestigious Place des Arts with Canadian bassist Michel Donato. His work and development as a jazz guitarist and composer have culminated in a series of important concerts at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Association, the Salle Claude-Champagne, the Montréal Drum Fest, the Maison de la Culture Frontenac, Stewart Hall, Upstairs jazz club, the Salon de la Guitare de Montréal, etc. His band was nominated for the General Motors Grand Jazz Award and the Galaxie Rising Star Award of the CBC at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2008.

 

His compositions and performances have been featured on many jazz radio programs throughout Canada, including CBC Radio and “Espace Musique.” He is presently tenured, full-professor of jazz studies at the Université de Montréal. He holds a Ph.D. in jazz studies and is widely published as a composer, musicologist and educator. He has published numerous articles on jazz improvisation, jazz history and composition in specialised periodicals for the International Association of Jazz Educators, has contributed to the award-winning International Dictionary of Black Composers, and is a regular contributor to Just Jazz Guitar magazine. His guitar lessons have been published worldwide through Just Jazz Guitar magazine since 2001.

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