Pianist, composer, and arranger Steve Talaga is a mainstay on the West Michigan music scene.  He's known for playing keys in some of the most exciting bands around, like:  The Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra, Evidence, Mind's Eye, Lifeline, Big Band Nouveau, Grupo Aye, Acana, and many others. 

     He was the West Michigan Jazz Society's 2008 Jazz Musician of the Year, and has released eight self-produced albums:  Mirage; Yin-Yang; Basement Alchemy; Two Worlds; Contemplating the Heavens; Heartside Sketches (WYCE-FM 2010 "Jammie" Award winner for Best Jazz Album); The Shapeshifter (includes “Deadman’s Hill,” 2011 third place winner, International Songwriting Competition jazz category); and June Balloon.

     Another recent project is the band, Lifeline, featuring him (keys), his son, Stephen Talaga (guitar), Caleb Elzinga (sax), and Larry Ochiltree (drums).  Their debut album, No Worries, dropped in October, 2019.

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     Talaga has performed with many jazz greats, including Kenny Wheeler, Terry Lynne Carrington, Wes Anderson, Marcus Printup, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, Adam Nussbaum, Wycliffe Gordon, Ric Margitza, Bobby Shew, Maria Schneider, Marvin Stamm, Denis DiBlazio, Jon Faddis, Claudio Roditi, Mark Elf, Johnny Bassett, Greg Abate, Walt Weiskopf, Phil Woods, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra.

      Talaga has received composition commissions from MAJIC (Musical Arts for Justice in the Community), Hope College, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids Poet Laureate Linda Nemec Foster, and the West Michigan Lakeshore Jazz Connection. 
     Having retired from his position as an adjunct professor of music at Hope College in Holland, Michigan in 2020, he has also been on the music faculties at Aquinas College, Grand Valley State University, Cornerstone University, and Grace Bible College, teaching courses in jazz studies and music theory/composition. He has taught at the Aquinas College Summer Jazz Camp and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. 
     Talaga received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Studies, Magna Cum Laude, and a Master of Music Degree in Composition from Western Michigan University. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts from Central Michigan University. 
     As a student in 1993, Talaga won a Downbeat Magazine award in the jazz composition category. He has won outstanding soloist awards from the Elmhurst, Aquinas, Ohio State University, and Notre Dame Jazz Festivals; and awards for jazz composition from the Notre Dame and Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festivals. He received honorable mention in the 1995 Billboard Magazine Song Writing Contest, Jazz Category. From 1982 - 1989, Talaga was a producer and on-air personality at CMU Public Radio in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.