Karl Moraski played his first song at age 2, began piano lessons at age 3, had his first solo recital at Wanamaker’s Auditorium in Philadelphia at age 5 and wrote his first song at age 6. Since then he has been involved in every imaginable style of music from Classical to Rock.

He cut his teeth in the ballet world at 12 years old, being asked to be the staff accompanist for a Music/Dance/Drama camp in Pennsylvania where he grew up, in exchange for free summers of study. He spent the next 6 summers there honing his craft; while playing for dance became second nature to him.

During high school he played with various show bands in the Pocono mountains and the Catskills Resorts serving as pianist, arranger and conductor; afterwards he went to New York University on a full scholarship where as a freshman he was already performing with their Jazz Ensemble. By age 20, was hired by John Clifford to join his Los Angeles Ballet where he played class, rehearsed with the dancers and was their piano soloist, performing with some of the best musicians in the city, also performing at the 1984 Summer Olympic Arts Celebration in Los Angeles as a solo pianist.

He has been a pianist for several major ballet companies and orchestras, performing both nationally and internationally, including American Ballet Theater, Miami City Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, Long Beach Ballet, Carolina Ballet, The Florida Symphonic Pops, The Naples Philharmonic and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, working with the likes of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Edward Villella, Alexander Goudonov, Alicia Alonso, Maya Plisetskaya, Mark Morris, Damian Woetzel, Megan Fairchild and a host of other artists through the years.

He has performed as a piano soloist in venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Wolftrap, The Edinburgh Festival in Glasgow, Scotland, with repertoire including Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, Stravinsky; The Four Temperaments, Paul Hindemith; Piano Concerto #3, Tchaikovsky; Tarantella, Franz Liszt; Schumann Symphonic Etudes’…

Since moving to Raleigh he has been doing a lot of composing and arranging. He composed a full length ‘Cinderella’ for Carolina Ballet, which received rave reviews. He has composed other ballets for the same company as well; ‘Visions’- a one-act ballet and ‘Portraits’ (a section of a full length evening ‘Ballet Extravaganza’), also receiving excellent reviews. Also a full length ballet for Carolina Ballet was 'Beauty and the Beast' which was presented to packed houses. He also continues to perform with the NC Symphony and The Opera Company of North Carolina (where he played for Luciano Pavarotti on a solo accordion). He returned to Los Angeles to assist Warner Brothers in arranging and recording the full soundtrack for their newest theatrical venture, ‘Casablanca: The Dance’, conceived by John Clifford, which premiered in Beijing, China. His most recent commissioned score was for The Portland Ballet (choreographed by John Clifford) for a full length ballet version of A Christmas Carol.

While in North Carolina he had also been on staff at Hope Community Church; a church that continues to open its arms wide as it not only reaches out to people in the local area but around the world as well. He has been involved in community development and mission work in places such as Kyrgyzstan, Venezuela, The Central African Republic, Haiti and Uganda. He continues to do musical fundraisers locally with his classic rock group, Band of Brothers, to raise funds for global initiatives and local ones as well such as North Carolina Food Bank. For many years he has also given back by writing songs for Songs of Love; an organization that provides customized songs for kids with life threatening illnesses. To date he's written over 150 songs.

He resides in Cary, NC where he continues to perform with Carolina Ballet as a piano soloist as well as a composer, works with Cary Ballet Conservatory’s Pre Professional program and has been most recently a guest artist with the Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

EDUCATION/MUSIC TRAINING

LIVE PERFORMANCE LINKS:

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REFERENCES:

Al Sturgis- Music Director Carolina Ballet, North Carolina Master Chorale
E-mail: alsturgis@nc.rr.com
Phone: +1-919-345-4950

Jennifer Kronenberg Guerra- Artistic Director, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami
E-mail: Jennifercarlynn@yahoo.com
Phone: +1-305-527-6202

Heather Iler- Ballet Program Director, Cary Ballet Conservatory
E-mail: hjiler@gmail.com
Phone: 1+-419-704-4635

Misha Tchoupakov- Professor, School of Dance, North Carolina School of the Arts
E-mail: Tchoupakopvm@uncsa.edu
Phone: 1+-818-826-4763