Musical Bio

John (older brother of writer Michael Dusenberry) was born in New York City and raised in Huntington Station on the north shore of Long Island. He began his musical life as a trombone player in the Downbeat Magazine award-winning Walt Whitman High School jazz band–led by pioneer jazz educator Clem DeRosa. The band was featured on “Voice of America,” invited by Leonard Bernstein to play at his home in Fairfield Connecticut, performed on national television (The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Merv Griffin Show), and outdoor summer concerts at Heckscher Park, Huntington L.I. with leading jazz musicians,  including Zoot Sims, Marian McPartland, Jimmy Nottingham, Clark Terry, Jimmy Rushing, Phil Woods, and Urbie Green.

To hear this remarkable young band please click here.

After earning a degree in Biology (minor in English) from Lehigh University, John spent one tour of duty in the Navy as a musician. He studied trombone at the Navy School of Music under virtuoso Tom Ervin. After the Navy he went on to study trombone with Ned Meredith of the San Francisco Symphony.

A growing interest in composition led to private studies with composer Will Johnson (Princeton, Cal Berkeley, Cal State U. Sonoma) until John settled in the Los Angeles area. There, at USC for one year until his G.I. Bill money ran out, he studied counterpoint with James Hopkins,  orchestration with Anthony Vazzana, and music theory with Morten Lauridsen. Following this, Introduction to Film Scoring with Don Ray at UCLA Extension.

Working by day writing computer software at R&D Associates in Marina Del Rey, and after writing a few songs and instrumental pieces, he wrote the book, lyrics and music for two musicals: Best Laid Plans, and The Campaign, directing successful community theater productions of each at The Hermosa Beach Civic Theatre. A professional production of Best Laid Plans at The Beverly Hills Playhouse received excellent reviews in Daily Variety and The Santa Monica Evening Outlook.

Still writing computer software by day (Activision, Hewlett-Packard, Northrop Grumman), and occasionally playing the trombone (the Benny Goodman Tribute Orchestra,  local musical theater), John has written songs, art songs, choral pieces, for piano, string quartet, orchestra, various other instrumental groups, film (temp score for an independent movie The Congressman), as well as the  music for writer Allan Provost‘s musical, The Accidental President. A community theater production in Manhattan Beach was a warmly received success. His piece for orchestra, Long Island Skies, received enthusiastic applause after being performed by the El Camino College orchestra.

Encouraged by audiences responses, excellent reviews, and positive reactions to his songs by online radio listeners (reactions and reviews), John continues to write vocal and instrumental music.