Mr. Gerhardt earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Ithaca College, and his Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

Mr. Gerhardt began his teaching career as a private lesson instructor at the exclusive Allen Stevenson School in Manhattan and the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division. These opportunities led to the appointment as Band Director and Private Lessons Coordinator at the first annual NYC Board of Education Summer Music Camp hosted by the Manhattan School of Music.

In 1999, Mr. Gerhardt accepted the position as the Band and Jazz Director at Elisabeth C. Adams Middle School in Guilford, CT, teaching 7th & 8th Grade Bands, Honors Band, and Jazz Band. His groups earned top ratings in both state and regional festivals. In 2003, he was offered a position at Great Bridge High School in his native town of Chesapeake, VA. While at Great Bridge, Mr. Gerhardt worked as the Jazz Program Director and Assistant Band Director. This involved leading four big band style jazz bands, conducting Concert Band, and assisting with the 9th Grade Band, Honors Band, and the 200 member Marching Wildcats. Additionally, Mr. Gerhardt initiated and ran the Annual Great Bridge Jazz Festival, the District #4 Jazz Adjudication Festival, and created and implemented the Chesapeake Summer Jazz Clinic.

Mr. Gerhardt has worked as a freelance musician enabling him to perform with such groups as the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Jupiter Symphony, Westchester Symphony, Riverside Symphony, Bronx Philharmonic, and the Virginia Symphony. He also has recorded for TV and radio and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and on Broadway. In Connecticut, he has performed with the New Haven Symphony, Orchestra New England, Bridgeport Symphony, Stamford Symphony, the Goodspeed Opera, the Mohegan Sun Casino Orchestra, and the Shoreline Jazz Collective.

Mr. Gerhardt received numerous honors and awards as a performer and educator including the 1995 Yamaha Young Performing Artist Award, 1998 John C. Clark Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Brass Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, three-time Finalist in the New York Brass Conference Quintet Competition, Finalist for the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Finalist in the National Trumpet Competition, and has twice been named to the Who’s Who in American Teachers.