Joe Block is a Grammy-nominated pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and musical director from Philadelphia, PA. He started playing classical piano at age two before he took an interest to jazz in middle school. He now resides in New York City, where he is in high demand and has toured with a diverse array of artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Leslie Odom, Jr. He has played at venues that include Carnegie Hall, the Village Vanguard, and the Apollo Theater. Block has been hailed by Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of "jazz's most promising young composers" and was named a 2024 recipient of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. He was also a semi-finalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition. As a bandleader, Block leads the Open Heart Trio and the Joe Block Quintet, where he performs many of his original compositions. He is a graduate of the prestigious Columbia-Juilliard dual-degree program (BA '21, MM '22). Joe Block is a Steinway Artist.