John Dusenberry Music

John was born in New York City, and raised in Huntington Station on the north shore of Long Island.

He began his musical life as a trombone player in the award-winning Walt Whitman high school jazz band led by pioneer jazz educator Clem DeRosa. Highlights include broadcasting on Voice of America, playing at Leonard Bernstein’s home in Fairfield Connecticut, appearances on national television, and performing with guest soloists such as Phil Woods, Urbie Green, and Marion McPartland.

After graduating from Lehigh University, he studied trombone at the Navy School of Music with trombone virtuoso Tom Ervin; and after leaving the Navy he studied with Ned Meredith of the San Francisco Symphony.

A growing interest in composition led John to study counterpoint privately with Will Johnson (Princeton, Cal Berkeley); and after settling in the Los Angeles area, music composition with Morten Lauridsen, Robert Linn, James Hopkins, and Anthony Vazzana at USC, and film scoring with Don Ray at UCLA.