Aschenbrenner, John

John Nicholas Aschenbrenner, son of renowned philosopher Karl Aschenbrenner & Marie Kerr, was born in 4 January 1950 in Oakland, California.

He is a pianist, composer, and conductor. He earned a BA in composition from the University of California, Berkeley and did graduate work at USC Film School and at Trinity College of Music in London.

John has had a career as a pianist and conductor on Broadway (Tommy Tune’s “My One and Only” and Rupert Holmes’s “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”), on TV (“As the World Turns," "General Hospital," & "Another World"), and in film (Jane Fonda’s “China Syndrome” and the film music library “Cinemusic”).

He is the author of the successful piano teaching series "Piano by Number."

He received the Emmy Award for Music Direction from Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1985. Aschenbrenner was so Emmy Award nominee (with Jill Diamond) for music direction and composition in 1987, Drama Critics Circle Award, Dramalogue Award, and the NY Meet The Composer Award. He was also an Emmy Award nominee for composition in 1986.

His Volga German ancestors immigrated to the United States from the colony of Norka.