Ty Citerman teaches guitar at BKCM. Originally from St. Louis, MO, Ty is a guitarist and composer who writes, performs and teaches music across the spectrum of jazz, rock and contemporary classical. He holds a Master of Music degree in music composition from Brooklyn College (CUNY). He is also the proud recipient of a 2018 Brooklyn Arts Council grant to support the creation and performance of new work. Ty’s nine year-old project Bop Kabbalah explores the juxtaposition of original composition, improvisation and Jewish musical traditions. Its trio incarnation, Bop Kabbalah+Voices (with Sara Serpa and Judith Berkson) released a recording of original settings of Yiddish labor texts on Infrequent Seams, which Eyal Hareuveni (in Salt Peanuts) called “inspiring and moving, and beautifully arranged and delivered.” Bop Kabbalah’s quartet premiered on John Zorn’s Tzadik Records “Radical Jewish Culture” series in 2014, and JazzTimes called the album “…one of the year’s most arresting recordings…” He is a founding member of the irreverent jazz quartet Gutbucket, which has released six recordings of original music and toured across the US and Europe. Ty also composed original theme music for the podcast “Tradeoffs” and scored the 2019 St. Anne’s Warehouse Labapalooza! puppetry festival show “To Love What Death Has Touched” by Kevin White. Over the past two decades, he has performed on some of the world’s finest stages, including Carnegie Hall, the London Jazz Festival, Paris Jazz Festival, Belgrade Jazz Festival, Jazz a Vienne, the Bang on a Can Marathon, Earshot Jazz Festival, Jazz Saalfelden and more. He continues to compose music for various instruments and is an active freelancer in the New York contemporary music scene.

As a teacher, Ty works with students to develop a lifelong love of music making. In addition to exploring a diverse established repertoire, hands-on music theory and proper technique, he teaches improvisation and songwriting, encouraging students to find their own voice in music.