About the Artist

Dr. Brian Cashwell maintains an active and varied performing and teaching schedule throughout Ohio and the beyond. Equally at home in jazz and classical idioms, he teaches in both the Jazz Studies and Dance departments at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and teaches World Music at Miami University. He directed the Jazz Ensemble at Wright State University, and was an Assistant Professor at Central State University, touring both nationally and internationally as accompanist for their choir. Previously a resident of New York City, he toured with The Boys Choir of Harlem, and played the at The Blue Note, Symphony Space, Metropolitan Museum, and other venues. Other collaborations include work with jazz musicians John Fedchock, Gary Smulyan, Alexis Cole, and actor Joe Piscopo.

He has worked as a ballet accompanist at The School of American Ballet, Barnard College, and Steps on Broadway, and is currently an accompanist for the dance department at CCM and The Cincinnati Ballet.

Cashwell has collaborated with The Dayton Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra and served as a pit musician for touring Broadway productions of The Producers, Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray, Pacific Overtures, The Irish Tenors, and many other productions at Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center, Music Hall, and Playhouse in the Park.

Currently he is a part of several local groups as a leader and sideman, running the gamut from traditional jazz to original compositions. He cofounded Estrada do Sol, with his wife, Andrea Cefalo, which exclusively performs Brazilian music, and he leads his own trio. Performances with these groups include Jazz at the Memo at Cincinnati’s Memorial Hall, Brazil Day Cincinnati, The Dayton Jazz Festival, and many other jazz clubs and festivals.

He made his motion picture debut in the 2015 Don Cheadle film Miles Ahead, a fictionalized biopic of Miles Davis, and appears in the 2025 Barry Levinson/Robert DeNiro film The Alto Knights.

As a classical pianist, Cashwell was twice awarded the Atlanta Steinway Society prize, performed in master classes for Vladimir Feltzman, Robert Blocker, Ruth Laredo, and performed Prokofiev’s First Piano Concerto with the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra.

He received a D.M.A. from The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, M.M. from University of Georgia, and B.M. from Florida State University