Patrick Kerber holds performance degrees from Loyola University and the University of New Orleans. His studies also include two years of study at the University of Southern California, and as a private scholarship student with Pepe Romero in San Diego.
Mr. Kerber has been performing as a solo recitalist on stage, radio, and television for over forty years. He has performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southeastern Louisiana University Symphony Orchestra, and has been a repeat soloist with both the Louisiana Sinfonietta and the New Orleans Civic Symphony. Mr. Kerber is also sought after as a recital accompanist, having performed with such artists as John Tyson, James Smith, Emily Truckenbrod, and Joy Ratliff, in addition to performances with Southeastern Concert Choir, and the Oklahoma State University Concert Choir. In 2014, the Southeastern Guitar Quartet’s tour dates included a performance at the University of Southern California which was recorded and featured in repeat broadasts on NPR affiliate KUSC Radio’s, Thornton Center Stage.
Mr. Kerber's compositions for solo guitar, guitar duet, and guitar quartet have been performed in venues from Florida to California such as NPR's nationally broadcast Concert Today and the Guitar Foundation of America's annual convention, performed by himself and such acclaimed guitarists as Scott Tennant, Randy Pile, and James Smith. His composition, Bagatelle, for solo guitar was chosen from among over 100 international entries to appear in the Guitar Foundation of America's 1994 Set Piece Composition Anthology published by Mel Bay. In 2012, Mr. Kerber’s composition Sonatina LA-L.A. for guitar duet was commissioned by the Head of the Guitar Department at USC, James Smith. In 2023 the internationally acclaimed guitar/sax duo, Duo Montagnard commissioned Kerber to arrange the piece for guitar and saxophone which has been featured in multiple performances in their tour dates. Mr. Kerber's experience in publishing also includes editorial participation in Pepe Romero's highly acclaimed guitar technique book, Guitar Style and Technique.
In 2011 the internationally noted Romero Guitar Quartet produced their album of Christmas music for the prestigious Deutches Grammphon label, Christmas with Los Romeros. Of the many arrangers whose entries were featured including Federico Moreno Torroba, Christopher Dobrian, and Massimo Paris, Mr. Kerber’s arrangements were the most numerous included in the project. His arrangement of Handel’s Joy to the World became the featured track of the DG online promotion. The Romeros featured the music of the album on two international world tours in 2012 and 2013 performing throughout the United States, Europe, and China
Mr. Kerber was also producer of the highly successful weekly radio program, “The Classical Guitar” for NPR affiliate WWNO 90 FM in New Orleans from 1987 to 1992. He has two solo guitar recordings for the Kubla Music label and is planning a recording consisting entirely of his own compositions.
As an educator, Mr. Kerber brings a wealth of knowledge and practical experience to the studio. His master classes have brought rave reviews citing his uncanny communication and motivational skills. He has taught at the University of New Orleans, Xavier University, the internationally recognized New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. In 1992, a commission from the Southeastern Louisiana University Drama Department to compose and perform incidental music for Janet Martin's Play, Talking With led to an invitation to join the music faculty at Southeastern in 1993. Graduates from the SLU Department of Music and Dramatic Arts majoring in guitar have distinguished themselves throughout the United States developing successful careers as performers, teaching in their own private studios, and holding positions at primary, secondary, and university levels.
