Tamer earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He pursued additional classical studies in Budapest, Hungary, studying harmony, solfage and conducting. As a vocalist, he has sung with the Choral Arts Society and Philadelphia Orchestra under the batons of conductors Riccardo Muti, Kurt Mazur, and Charles Dutoit.

After teaching music for five years, Tamer established Swamp Queen Music in 1997. His first CD, released in the fall of 1998, Tamer ~ Unwanted Curtains, features his jazz trio, solo piano performances and original compositions. Beginning To See the Light, released in spring 2002, also features piano solo, trio and sextet performances of original compositions, as well as Tamer's spins on classic jazz standards. The winter of 2002 saw the release of Tamer's third CD, Let it Snow!. Building on the foundation laid with Unwanted Curtains and Beginning to See the Light, Let it Snow! also features interesting arrangements of holiday classics, including solo, duo, and sextet performances.

Never forgetting his love of children, this skilled educator and musician married his talents to create The Jazz Assembly, a one-of-a-kind participatory experience for elementary through high school students. The Jazz Assembly has been recognized by educators and administrators as the first of its kind to cross more than six core-curriculum subjects, meeting the respective state required standards while at the same time motivating students to learn the valuable history and tenets of jazz improvisation. These Assemblies are presented in conjunction with Young Audiences of New Jersey; Young Audiences of Eastern PA; and Peter Nero and the Philadelphia Pops Jazz in the Schools Series, and have been performed throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and beginning in 2004, in New York.

Tamer has played with Les Paul; Grover Washington, Jr.; Stanley Clarke; Eddie Gomez; and Trudy Pitts. As a cabaret artist and pianist he has performed at the ASCAP Songwriters Showcase; Brandy's Saloon; Cleopatra s Needle; Don't Tell Mama; The Duplex; the Iridium Jazz Club; Key West Piano Bar; NBC's Rainbow Room; Odette's; Raw Space Theatre; Sam's Cabaret; Tavern Camac; The Townhouse; and the Triad Theater. His theater credits include roles in Amahl and the Night Visitors; English Made Simple; Into the Woods; The Philadelphia; The Secret Garden; The Sound of Music; Sunday in the Park with George; and A Builder of Dreams, for which he performed both on stage and off, as actor/singer and arranger.

He served as musical director for Montauk Theatre Productions Always, Patsy Cline and The Show of the Century, in which he also performed. His original compositions have been heard in the Wynner s Circle Theatre Company productions of Genesis; The Quiet Room, or What Happens When a Schizoid Ballerina Is Locked in a Room with a Duck and As Heard in the Quiet Room; a cabaret based upon his work as heard in The Quiet Room..., in which Tamer was the featured artist; and Seascape with Sharks and Dancer, for which Tamer received the 2002 SpotlightOn/Sage Award for Best Sound Design.

An artist of international appeal, 2002 found him performing at the VIP Club and Casino in Moscow, Russia.

Currently, Tamer travels throughout New York and New Jersey, as educator or entertainer, with his trio or as a solo artist, sharing his great love of Jazz at every performance.

For more information, go to www.tamertewfik.com.