 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).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, October 14, 2005
Are we teaching missionaries for the arts?
http://www.backstage.com/backstage/news/article_display...ontent_id=1001262513
After reading Joseph Polisi's eloquent yet true statement, I realized: when a student enters the room for a lesson, I am perhaps always thinking, 'What will you do with this after you leave? How will you make a difference--and--make a living in your field of choice?' The term President Polisi uses is 'missionary', which is quite appropriate, given that in order to keep the many facets of the arts alive will require perhaps more commitment to its survival than at any time before by our students today.
Even for people like myself, a graduate during the 1980s, the technology is now available for faster communication which did not exist in the 1980s. It has helped in exploring new ways to get new projects off the ground and communicate more cheaply than by regular mail and telephone. Though, sometimes, speaking with people on a telephone can get atleast two to three days of email correspondence done in five minutes in one phone call. There are pluses and minuses for both ways to communicate. However, with speed and easier access to everything, the ideals we hel in high regard of the arts in the 20th century, must be adhered to by our teachers and students for the ultimate survival of these crafts. We are fortunate to have people like Joseph Polisi and many fantastic administrators across the globe that see the trends of society, and the new responsibilities of everyone to uphold these traditions.
posted by Jeffrey Biegel
8:57 AM
|
| |
