Shelly Berg is a Steinway piano artist and awarded 5 Grammy Award nominations including Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals category including his arrangement of “What a Wonderful World” on Gloria Estefan: The Standards (2014). Shelly Berg has performed, recorded and arranged for renown jazz vocalists Patti Austin, Nancy Wilson, Bobby McFerrin, and Dionne Warwick. He is an award-winning educator with over 45 years of leadership in higher education; Shelly Berg served for 19 years as dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami (2007-2026) and in in 2000, the Los Angeles Times named him one of three “Educators for the Millennium.”

ABOUT THE PARKER PALM SPRINGS

Purchased in 1961 by Western movie star Gene Autry, The Parker Palm Springs has long reigned as the desert’s coolest address, having served as the stomping grounds of Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack, and other glitterati. Today, the lushly planted estate (owned by Jack Parker Corporation) is just as known for its throwback glamor as for the whimsical, exuberant style courtesy of designer Jonathan Adler. Just a ten-minute drive from downtown Palm Springs, the Parker feels like a desert oasis. Accommodations — including 144 rooms, suites and villas — are tucked into 13 acres of gardens and palm-tree studded grounds. The nautical-inspired spa is the desert’s only “yacht club,” with 15 treatment rooms named after America’s Cup champions, an indoor pool and totally tailor-made wellness programming. The property also encompasses two sparkling outdoor pools, clay tennis and padel courts, and pétanque and croquet lawns. With five unique dining and drinking venues (including ever-popular mister parker’s), the hotel is one of the Coachella Valley’s top culinary hot spots. In January, don’t be surprised if you bump into Hollywood’s brightest stars: this is where A-listers stay during the Palm Springs International Film Festival like to check in.