Andrew Surmani is President & CEO of Surmani Business Coaching, helping leaders to get what they want from their businesses. He also serves as Associate Professor of Music Industry Studies, and Academic Lead of the Master of Arts in Music Industry Administration degree program at California State University, Northridge. He is also CEO of Caleb Chapman's Soundhouse, a contemporary music training program with the aim of fostering professionalism, teamwork, and the development of critical life skills through performing, recording, touring, and mentoring by top tier industry professionals.

Prior to joining the Soundhouse, Surmani worked for more than 30 years in the music industry, most notably as Chief Marketing Officer for Alfred Music, overseeing global sales and marketing operations. As the Vice President of Marketing and School & Church Team Leader for Alfred Music, he helped consolidate company operations following the largest acquisition in print music publishing history (Alfred’s purchase of Warner Brothers Publications), launched and oversaw major product lines, introduced innovative marketing campaigns and expanded into global markets. While leading this division for Alfred, the company launched some of its most successful product lines, including Accent on Achievement, Strictly Strings, Choral Designs, Alfred Pop Choral, Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory and the revolutionary new customizable band and string methods, Sound Innovations.

Surmani also works as a freelance musician, and has performed in the Montreux (Switzerland), Istanbul (Turkey), Juan-les-Pins (France), Jazz à Vienne (France), Umbria (Italy), Jazz Aldia (Spain), Lake Biwa (Japan), and Wigan (England) international jazz festivals. He has performed in the concert halls of Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Additionally, he led a band and played lead trumpet in two shows at Walt Disney World, and also managed high school groups on tour to Hawaii and Japan for a music production company.

A co-author of the best-selling series, Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory, Surmani has also published articles in educational and music industry journals, and has conducted workshops on music education and industry topics throughout the world.

Surmani was a Founding Board Member and Past President of the international Jazz Education Network (JEN), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In addition, he serves on the Music Technology Advisory Board at Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the Technology through Music Education (TI:ME) Advisory Board, the College Music Society Editorial Board and was Founder and Past President of the MATES Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation formed to support a new arts and technology charter school in Thousand Oaks, California.

Surmani holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Trumpet Performance and a Master of Business Administration degree (M.B.A.) from California State University, Northridge.

Presentation at the 2018 MEIEA Conference