Singer-Songwriter-Pianist

Todd plays solo piano, accompanies the  singers (and  sings himself) every Monday evening at La Casa Sena  Cantina in Santa  Fe, which he describes as his favorite venue. He  performs as a  pianist/singer at many venues and he estimates that  he’s played 1,200  wedding receptions in his career. 

Todd holds a Master of Music Education  degree from the  University of North Texas. He majored in each of the  following areas:  Piano, Voice and Composition/Theory. He also earned  a minor in  philosophy. 

Todd has a B.A. in music, with honors,  from Macalester College.

Todd also studied Third Stream Music at  the New England Conservatory with pianist Ran Blake.

Todd is a graduate cum laude of  the  University of Minnesota Law School . Since 1991, has been an  attorney  licensed in the state of Wisconsin. Todd was the Director of  Business  and Legal Affairs for Hal Leonard Corporation, the world’s  largest  music print publisher, throughout most of the 1990’s. He  represented  Hal Leonard in Federal Court in New York City during  Andrew Lloyd  Webbers’ copyright infringement case. However, Todd  realized that he  was a creator at heart and he eventually returned to  being a musician.  Today Todd is listed as “non-practicing,”  although he gives seminars to  musicians on legal matters and writes  articles about copyright law.

Todd’s  first job out of graduate  school was as the Music Supervisor at Busch  Gardens Theme Park in  Williamsburg, VA, where he supervised  approximately 150 musicians,  singers and dancers, arranged music for  eight shows, auditioned 2,000  college-age students each year  and   arranged and produced several  cast albums.

About this time, Todd became associated  with the  American singer Patricia Neway, who originated the role of  the Mother  Abbess in the original Broadway production of “The Sound  of Music.”   For several years, Todd took voice lessons from Neway  (who had changed  her name to Frances Breeze and taught at the College  of William and  Mary) and became her studio pianist. Todd also began  to play solo piano  gigs in local hotels. Todd has played at dozens of  venues, including  two of the “Top Ten Hotels in America” (as  named by USA Today): The  American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin, and the  Williamsburg Inn in  Williamsburg, VA. 

Todd fronted numerous bands in his  career,  playing keyboards, often playing keyboard bass and usually  doing the  lead singing. Roy Wooten (a/k/a “Future Man,” who plays  with Bela  Fleck) was in Todd’s band in the 1980’s. Todd’s trio  No Bass Hit has  performed at the Outpost Performance Space.

Todd began playing for dance classes  during  college when he worked for the Andahazy Ballet--Lorand  Andahazy had  danced in the Ballet Russe. Todd spent a year working  for the College  of William and Mary dance department, which taught  modern dance in the  Martha Graham style.  Todd also played for the  Minnesota Dance Theater  (where he was Artistic Director Loyce  Holton’s personal pianist), The  Children’s Theater Company, the  Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet and others. He  has also worked as a pianist for  Anne Reinking and Melissa Hayden.

Beginning in 1986, Todd was a staff  arranger for  the world’s largest music print publisher Hal Leonard  Corporation,  where he wrote approximately 2,000 arrangements that  were published.  His favorite projects were “The Complete Beatles,”  “Les Miserables  Vocal Selections” and “Phantom of the Opera  Vocal Selections.” Todd’s  arrangements were personally approved  of by such prominent composers as  Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michel  Legrand, and Stephen Sondheim.

In the late 1980’s Todd was also a  freelance  music critic for the Milwaukee Journal where he wrote  hundreds of  concert reviews and feature articles. Todd has sung on  national jingles  recorded in both Dallas and Richmond. In the 1990’s  Todd served on the  Board of Directors of Present Music, one of the  most successful  contemporary musical ensembles in the U.S.

Todd has taught at the University of  Wisconsin-  Milwaukee (songwriting and music business), Alverno  College (music  business) and presented workshops on Music Law at the  Wisconsin State  Bar Association and the National Conference of State  Legislators. 

Todd moved to New Mexico in 1998 and  began  working for NDI in 1999.Todd played his first NDI show in 2000  (“100  Years”) and music directed his first NDI show in 2001  (“Celebrate the  Beat’).  Todd became the official Albuquerque  Music Director in 2003  and was Music Director until 2011. In 2014, he  was named Music Director  again.  He music directed numerous NDI shows  including “Got Jazz,” “Jo  Kid,” “Route 66,” “What’s  the Big Idea,” “Zing” and remakes of “100  Years” and  “Celebrate the Beat.”

Todd began working with singer Kari  Simmons in  2000 and the two have since recorded 6 CDs together (see  list) and  still perform as a duo. Several musical revues that Todd  created have  become popular vehicles for the duo, including “As  Time Goes By: The  Songs of World War II,” “Reel Romance:  Hollywood’s Greatest Love Songs”  and “All You Need Is Love: The  Songs of the 1960’s”

Todd has recorded one CD of jazz and  blues  standards.  Todd recorded a CD of original songs in 1998  entitled  “Harmony of the World.” He recorded an all-original  Christmas album in  2014 and released “Little Hallelujahs” in  February 2015.

Todd started composing music when he  was 12  years old and has composed regularly and consistently for his  entire  life. He wrote a musical based on O. Henry’s “The Gift of  the Magi,”  which was performed 2008 and 2009 and recorded on CD.   Todd recently  completed another musical entitled “The Emperor’s  Three Questions.”  Todd also has a one-act musical “in his box”  entitled “The Shoemaker”  (based on a story by Tolstoy). He’s  been working for years on an opera  about the abolitionist John Brown. 

Todd wrote a full score for “The  Tempest”  (Virginia Shakespeare Festival) and scored the documentary  film “Hill’s  Folly.” He’s written hundreds of songs, ballets,  modern dance pieces,  choral music and chamber music for various  ensembles. 

Todd’s music appeared on a  Grammy-nominated  album in 1990. He won the “Best Song” Award at  the 2005 New Mexico  Music Awards. His music has been published by Hal  Leonard, by the  Association of Unity Churches and it even appears in  in the Methodist  Hymnal.

Todd has  performed in or music  directed such  shows as “West Side Story,” “Bye Bye Birdie,”  “Once Upon a Mattress,” “  Fiddler on the Roof,” “How to  Succeed In Business,” “Guys and Dolls ,”  “TheTender Land “  (Copland) and many others.

Todd has presented piano workshops  throughout the  state. While in New Mexico, Todd has taught at The  Public Academy for  the Performing Arts (piano),