Craig Alberty composer / arranger

Born and raised in South Dakota, Craig Alberty holds music degrees from the University of South Dakota and Arkansas State University. To the bewilderment of many, he has published over 40 works for concert band, jazz band, and brass ensemble. Jammin', his beginning jazz improvisation method published by C. L. Barnhouse, has been used nation-wide for nearly 20 years. His compositions have astonishingly found their way onto programs at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, The World Saxophone Congress in Montreal, and other state and regional meetings including the North American Saxophone Alliance. His band compositions are included on several contest performance lists in the U. S. and Australia.

Trained as a trumpet player, Alberty moved to the dark side at the new millennium and took up saxophone. The venture has landed him in a rock band, the pit for numerous shows, a symphony orchestra (soloist!?), and incited him to start a jazz quintet -- truly a passion out of control. For over 20 years he has operated an audio production studio specializing in the creation of accompaniment recordings for educational music publishers, most notably Ed Sueta Music and Macie Publishing.

Before initiating an electronic music program at the University of South Dakota in 1988, he taught instrumental music at public schools in Iowa and South Dakota. In 1996 he was offered the opportunity to start a new instrumental music program at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. He spent 14 years there directing jazz and concert bands, teaching music theory, and serving as coordinator of the music industry program he helped establish. He moved back to South Dakota in 2010. If you want more details (I can't imagine) just click the "curriculum vitae" image in this paragraph.

The Alberty family includes wife Lyn (euphonium, trombone); daughter Erin (piano, trumpet) toiling as a newspaper reporter in Salt Lake City and mother of granddaughter Saskia; son Seth (trombone) a cartographer living in Des Moines; son Thad, a freshman trumpet performance major at the University of South Dakota; and son Grant (trombone, piano) in 10th grade.