Grant Carvalho, jazz pianist extraordinaire, classical pianist, composer, improviser, and Manoa SMART’s jazz piano teacher, received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Hawai’i, studying with Dr. Jonathan Korth. He also completed a Bachelor’s in Music Composition at UH Manoa, studying under Dr. Donald Womack, Dr. Thomas Osborne, Dr. Jon Magnussen, Dr. Takuma Itoh, Dr. Takeo Kudo, and Dr. Byron Yasui. He started playing jazz with the Punahou Jazz Band in high school, and went on to perform extensively with the UH Jazz Band. His classical training, coupled with his prodigious imagination, have served him well in his career as a jazz musician, where he performs regularly every Friday and Saturday night at the Signature Restaurant on the top floor of the Ala Moana Hotel, in addition to numerous gigs at Medici’s, the Blue Note, Ward’s Rafters, and Jazz Minds. In addition to performing solo, he also leads his own group, The Grant Carvalho Trio. His playing has been strongly influenced by Errol Garner, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, Robert Glasper, and Brad Mehldau.