Jeff Newberry is a musician and educator with a reputation for his engaging and energetic style. As a composer and arranger, Jeff’s work draws from his diverse background in classical, pop, and theatre resulting in music that is dynamic and layered. At the Toronto District School Board, Jeff recently served as the Music Curriculum Leader for the Virtual Secondary School, home to some 18,000 students from across the city. At the TDSB, he taught vocal music and drama, and his choirs have won top honours at local and national competitions. In 2018, Jeff and his students launched an in-house record label to showcase student song-writing. As music director, Jeff has worked on dozens of productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Stratford Springworks Festival, Summerworks Performance Festival, Toronto Fringe Festival, and Next Stage Theatre Festival. This summer he looks forward to music directing A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline at the Capitol Theatre (Port Hope) and joining the MT faculty at IMC. Jeff has led workshops and professional development sessions for the teacher education programs at OISE, Queen’s, and York University, and at provincial conferences for music and drama educators.
Jeff holds a Bachelor of Music (University of Toronto), a Bachelor of Education (Queen’s University), an Honours Specialist in Vocal Music (OISE) and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at York University where he is a Research Associate of the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies.