 The career of pianist Jeffrey Biegel has been marked by bold, creative achievements and highlighted by a series of firsts.
He performed the first live internet recitals in New York and Amsterdam in 1997 and 1998, enabling him to be seen and heard by a global audience. In 1999, he assembled the largest consortium of orchestras (over 25), to celebrate the millennium with a new concerto composed for him by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The piece, entitled 'Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra', was premiered with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In 1997, he performed the World Premiere of the restored, original 1924 manuscript of George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' with the Boston Pops. Charles Strouse composed a new work titled 'Concerto America' for Biegel, celebrating America and honoring the heroes and events of 9-11. Biegel premiered the piece with the Boston Pops in 2002. He transcribed the first edition of Balakirev's 'Islamey Fantasy' for piano and orchestra, which he premiered with the American Symphony Orchestra in 2001, and edited and recorded the first complete set of all '25 Preludes' by Cesar Cui.
Currently, he is assembling the first global consortium for the new 'Concerto no. 3 for Piano and Orchestra' being composed for him by Lowell Liebermann for 2005-06-07. The World Premiere will take place with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andreas Delfs on May 12-14 2006, followed by the European Premiere with the Schleswig Holstein Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gerard Oskamp, February 6-9, 2007.
Biegel is currently on the piano faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).
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Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Why the 'Popsiccal' Josh Groban for Solo Piano?
With music going in all directions these days, I found it challenging and fun at the same time, in arranging some beautiful music that has been performed and recorded by the young Josh Groban. Immediately following the release of my solo piano transcriptions of "The Best of David Foster" for PianoDisc in June, "The Best of Josh Groban" is scheduled for release in September for the PianoDisc player piano system. My description of the project appears below the track list:
Canto alla vita
Alejate
Hymn A L’ amore
You Raise Me Up
Let Me Fall
Home to Stay
Alla Luce del Sole
You’re Still You
Un Amore Per Sempre
Gira con me
Cinema Paradiso
To Where You Are
Mi Mancherai
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Vincent
The Prayer
"I was first introduced to the magical vocal talent of Josh Groban during an episode of the television series “Ally McBeal.” As I listened to him, I was immediately moved by his natural warmth and the earthy sound he produced. Since then, I’ve watched his career with interest and delight. But it was during my visits to David Foster’s home and studio in 2004, while preparing my PianoDisc recording project, “The Best of David Foster” (PD/CD 2013), that I was inspired to delve into his music. Josh was, of course, Mr. Foster’s protégé and their collaboration made him a star.
So I bought the sheet music for his first CD and began exploring how I could recreate the songs for solo piano. As with the Foster project, the biggest challenge was making the piano sound as full as a symphony orchestra. Each song required a different approach. When I first read the music of ‘Gira con Me’, for example, my instincts propelled me to make a Chopin ‘Barcarolle’ out of the accompaniment for this grand Puccini-like aria. For ‘You’re Still You’ and others, the richness that Brahms and Rachmaninoff achieved in their piano pieces inspired me. In ‘Canto Alla Vita’, I echoed Beethoven’s ‘Pathetique’ Sonata and created a three-hand effect. For David Foster’s arrangement of Bach’s ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ I utilized three lines to reflect the vocal and organ parts. In ‘The Prayer’, another Foster gem, co-written with Carole Bayer Sager, I played the vocal duet alongside the orchestral material. ‘Home to Stay’, co-composed by Amy Foster-Skylark and my dear friend, Jeremy Lubbock, is a tender song with heartwarming harmonies. From the second CD songbook, I added three songs, including Jeremy Lubbock’s arrangement of ‘Mi mancherai’ and the song that is perhaps Josh’s best known, ‘You Raise Me Up.’
As I studied and played this music, I was filled with admiration for the amazing young artist who sings it. In a time when melody has all but disappeared from the scene, Josh Groban keeps it alive. On behalf of audiences today and for years to come, let me just say…Thank you, Josh."
posted by Jeffrey Biegel
6:34 AM
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