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The American pianist, Jeddrey Biegel, born a second-generation American, his roots are of Russian and Austrian heritage. A Russian cousin, pianist Herman Kosoff, emigrated to the USA in the early 20th century, and had studied with the great Leopold Godowsky in Austria. Biegel's grandmother's cousin, Dr. Sonia Slatin,was a graduate of Columbia University who actively performed and also taught Schenkerian analysis at Brooklyn College. Until the age of three, Biegel could neither hear nor speak, until corrected by surgery. The 'reverse Beethoven' phenomenon can explain Biegel's life in music, having heard only vibrations in his formative years. He studied at The Juilliard School with the legendary artist/teacher Adele Marcus, herself a pupil of Josef Lhevinne and Artur Schnabel. Biegel obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in 1983, and his Master of Music degree in piano in 1984. Biegel was the unanimous recipient of the prestigious First Grand Prize in the 1989 Marguerite Long International Piano Competition and the First Prize in the 1985 William Kapell/University of Maryland International Piano Competition. He made his New York orchestral debut in 1983 performing Prokofiev's Concerto No. 2 in G minor with the Juilliard Philharmonia, in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.
Considered one of the great pianists of our time, Jeffrey Biegel has created a multi-faceted career as a pianist, recording artist, composer and arranger. His electrifying technique and mesmerizing touch have received critical acclaim and garner praise worldwide. His career has been marked by bold, creative achievements and highlighted by a series of firsts: He initiated the first live internet recitals in New York and Amsterdam in 1997 and 1998, and, in 1999, assembled the largest consortium of orchestras (over 25), to celebrate the millennium with a new concerto composed for him by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, whose Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra was premiered with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2000. He also transcribed Balakirev's Islamey Fantasy for piano and orchestra, premiered with the American Symphony Orchestra in 2001, followed with Charles Strouse composing a new work titled Concerto America for Biegel, premiered with the Boston Pops Orchestra in 2002. He further arranged the piano part for Billy Joel's 'Symphonic Fantasies' in 2006, with performances at the Eastern Music Festival, the Boris Brott Festival and with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Harrisburg, and other USA orchestras.
Jeffrey Biegel joined 18 co-commissioning orchestras for Lowell Liebermann's Concerto no. 3 for Piano and Orchestra composed exclusively for him for the 2006-2007/2007-2008 seasons. The World Premiere took place with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andreas Delfs, and the European Premiere featured the Schleswig Holstein Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gerard Oskamp. Biegel performed Leroy Anderson's Concerto in C with the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart in Boston's Symphony Hall, as well as with the New York Pops in Carnegie Hall for the New York premiere of this work and the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton (with the Grieg Piano Concerto on the SommerFest series 2008). In addition, he substituted for the late pianist John Browning to perform the World Premiere of Marjorie Rusche's Dreaming the Rag Waltz Blues and L.v. Beethoven's Concerto No. 1 in C major with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tsung Yeh. During a tour of Germany, he performed the World Premiere of Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons for Piano and String Orchestra with members of the Schleswig Holstein Symphony Orchestra. He also performed the World Premiere of Daniel Dorff's Concerto No. 1, composed for Biegel, with the Etowah Youth Orchestra, Mike Gagliardo conducting.
An avid composer, Jeffrey Biegel and his son, Craig, co-composed The World In Our Hands, published by the Hal Leonard Corporation. It reflects the events of 9-11 with a vision for hope and peace, and has been performed in Africa, Ireland, and throughout the USA. The Hal Leonard Corporation has also published Christmas In A Minute, an SATB choral version of Frédéric Chopin's Minute Waltz as well as his arrangement of The Twelve Days of Christmas for SATB divisi a cappella choir, and, Hanukah Fantasy for SATB/piano. The orchestration for Christmas In A Minute by Kermit Poling is available through Lauren Keiser Music, which can be performed by soloist and orchestra, or with choir and orchestra. Biegel received a commission to compose a new work for SSA choir with the chosen text, 'Hey Ho, The Wind and the Rain' from William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and is published by the Hal Leonard Corporation. 'Hey Ho, The Wind and the Rain' is featured on a new CD recorded by Voci Nobili, the prize-winning Norwegian women's choir conducted by Maria Helbekkmo. Voci Nobili also performed the work in New York's Merkin Hall. His most recent choral compositions include an arrangement of The Christmas Song for SATB a cappella choir, and both Ho Ho Hanukah, Ho Ho Christmas and A Different Kind of Hero are published by Carl Fischer Inc. Earthsongs also publishes 'Elegy of Anne Boleyn'. In addition, Artaria publishes his editions of Cesar Cui's 25 Preludes (CD available through Naxos) and Antoine Reicha's Symphonie Concertante pour Deux Violoncelles et Orchestre. His new editions for Schirmer's Performance Editions include Robert Schumann's Scenes from Childhood, The Sonatina Album, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Prokofiev's Music for Children, Op. 65 with accompanying audio CD’s.
Jeffrey Biegel's Swiss debut featured Duke Ellington's New World A-Comin' with L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, Pinchas Steinberg conducting. On January 8, 2001, he appeared on ABC-TV's Good Morning America, followed by a performance with the American Symphony Orchestra led by the late Vahktang Jordania in New York's Avery Fisher Hall. The program featured the World Premiere of Biegel's transcription of Mily Balakirev's Islamey Fantasy for piano and orchestra, the restored original 1924 manuscript of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Peanuts Gallery. PianoDisc (the player piano system manufacturer) has released Biegel's recording, 'Rare Gems of the Golden Age', 'Best of David Foster', 'Best of Josh Groban', and releases 'Classical Carols' in 2007 along with IQ DVD videos featuring works by L.v. Beethoven, F. Chopin and Franz Liszt.
In 1997, Jeffrey Biegel performed the original 1924 manuscript of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' with the Boston Pops (covered by CNN, ABC-TV, NPR, CBC Canada, Associated Press and USA Today). He has subsequently performed the 1924 manuscript with orchestras across the United States, including the St. Louis Symphony, and the Israel Chamber Orchestra conducted by Philippe Entremont at the Kravis Center (West Palm Beach, Florida). He has also presented the German Premiere of the work with the Bochumer Symphoniker led by Steven Sloane and the Scandinavian Premiere with the Bergen Philharmonic led by Michael Stern in Norway, April 2001.
Jeffrey Biegel performed the first global real audio/video cybercast piano recital in July 1997 from New York's Steinway Hall (featuredin The New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Report syndicated TV feature). He subsequently performed the first European real audio/video cybercast piano recital from Amsterdam. The New York recital was released originally on the Angelok1 label.
Sought after by today's composers to present their own new works, Jeffrey Biegel has recorded the World Premiere of composer Lalo Schifrin's Piano Concerto No. 2 - The Americas with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester (Munich Radio Orchestra). This is featured in the current motion picture soundtrack titled Something to Believe In, released on Aleph Records.In addition, he has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, Danish National Radio Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre de Radio France, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux, Palermo's Orchestra della Teatro Massimo, Turkey's Istanbul Symphony, Presidential Symphony Orchestra, Izmir Symphony and Ensemble Orchestral de France in Paris' Theatre des Champs-Elysees.
In 1985, Leonard Bernstein said of pianist Jeffrey Biegel: "He played fantastic Liszt. He is a splendid musician and a brilliant performer." These comments helped to launch Biegel's 1986 New York recital debut, as the recipient of the coveted Juilliard William Petschek Piano Debut Award, in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Alice Tully Hall. He has been heard in recital in New York, Boston, Washington DC, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Cincinnati, London, Paris, Tokyo, Oslo, Mexico City, plus a multi-city tour of Norway.
Known for his standard-setting performances of the standard repertoire, Mr. Biegel's recent performances includes a global webcast with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin conducting, in L.v. Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and William Bolcom's Prometheus along with his Eastern Germany debut with Johannes Brahms' Concerto no. 2 in B-flat Major with Kimbo Ishii-Eto leading the Magdeburg Symphony Orchestra. He premiered his adaptation of pop legend Neil Sedaka's Manhattan Intermezzo for piano and orchestra with Orchestra Kentucky, and performed the World Premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Shadows for piano and orchestra, with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra leading a commissioning project of eight orchestras. His recent recordings include “A Steinway Christmas Album” and, “Bach On A Steinway” for the Steinway label, Leroy Anderson's Concerto in C, conducted by Leonard Slatkin with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Millennium Fantasy and Peanuts Gallery, a solo CD of A. Vivaldi's Four Seasons for Naxos, “Classical Carols” for Koch and the Complete Sonatas by W.A. Mozart on the E1 label. His third recording for the Steinway label will be released in early 2013. In 2010, he performed two world premieres with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Carl St. Clair: Richard Danielpour's Mirrors for Piano and Orchestra, and, William Bolcom's Prometheus for Piano, Orchestra and Chorus. Biegel's Hanukah Fantasy for SATB/piano, is published by the Hal Leonard Corporation, along with Lucas Richman's orchestral arrangement with choir, published by the LeDor Group. Biegel has also created Trio21, being joined with violinist Kinga Augustyn and cellist Robert DeMaine. For their inaugural season 2011-2012, Trio21 performed a new work commissioned exclusively for Trio21 by Kenneth Fuchs titled, Falling Trio based on the novel, Falling Man by Don DeLillo. They recorded Falling Trio as part of an all-Kenneth Fuchs project to be released in April 2013 on the Naxos label. In November 2012, GPR Records releases a recording featuring Trio21 in Glen Roven's musical adaptation of the classic children's book, Runaway Bunny, with guest narrator, Welsh-born actress Catherine Zeta Jones.
Jeffrey Biegel is currently on the piano faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, a City University of New York (CUNY), and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He resides in New York with his wife, Sharon, and their sons Craig and Evan. |
