Derek Beckvold

As a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, conductor, and educator, Derek Beckvold has performed a wide range of music across North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as extensively in Boston.

Formerly an educator at the Community Music Center of Boston, Beckvold has also been on the faculty at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (Kabul, Afghanistan), the Global Music Institute (New Delhi, India) and the Musicmatters school (Colombo, Sri Lanka). He has worked with the American Voices music education programs, through the U.S. State Department, in Lebanon, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Iraq. He worked for Musicians without Borders in Palestine and received a Fulbright-Nehru scholarship to conduct education research in partnership with Music Basti in India.

Beckvold is the codirector of curriculum development for Giant Steps Music (San Francisco, California), a curriculum writer for Empowerment through Integration (Beirut, Lebanon), and the cofounder and director of the online music education platform Teach to Learn. He is also currently education and community engagement manager for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. He received his B.M. in saxophone performance from the New England Conservatory.