Pianist  Jeffrey Biegel is the next artist featured in our Repertoire Report series.

If I had to pick one word to describe Jeffrey’s list it would have to be “eclectic.” Like Leonard Slatkin, Jeffrey approaches “light” repertoire like Leroy Anderson with the same professionalism and artistry as JS Bach and Prokofiev.

Having created a multi-faceted career as a pianist, recording artist, composer and arranger, Jeffrey Biegel’s electrifying technique and mesmerizing touch has received international critical acclaim. Known for his standard-setting performances of the standard repertoire, Mr. Biegel’s recent recordings include Leroy Anderson’s Concerto in C, conducted by Leonard Slatkin with the BBC Concert Orchestra (Naxos), Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Millennium Fantasy and Peanuts Gallery with the Florida State University Orchestra (Naxos), Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Naxos), Classical Carols (Koch), as well as the Complete Sonatas by Mozart (E1). Most recently, he recorded an all-Bach CD with Grammy-winning producer, Steven Epstein, for a late 2010 release on the new Steinway and Sons label.

In 2010, Mr. Biegel performs two world premieres with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra: Richard Danielpour’s Mirrors for Piano and Orchestra and William Bolcom’s Prometheus for Piano, Orchestra, and Chorus. Mr. Biegel currently is assembling a global commissioning project for commissioning Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s next work for piano and orchestra. Mr. Biegel’s newly created Trio21, featuring violinist Judy Kang and cellist Robert deMaine, will begin their inaugural season with performances of a new work commissioned by the celebrated composer, Kenneth Fuchs.

Jeffrey Biegel’s career has been marked by bold, creative achievements. In the late 90’s, he initiated the first live internet recitals in New York and Amsterdam, and assembled a consortium of more than 25 orchestras to celebrate the millennium with the premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra. In 2006, Mr. Biegel joined 18 co-commissioning orchestras for Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto no. 3 for Piano and Orchestra, which was composed exclusively for him. He has played premieres of new works and arrangements with the Boston Pops, New York Pops, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, as well as the symphony orchestras of Minnesota, Indianapolis, and Harrisburg, among others.

Born a second-generation American, Mr. Biegel’s roots are of Russian and Austrian heritage. Until the age of three, Mr. Biegel was unable to neither hear nor speak, until corrected by surgery. The ‘reverse Beethoven’ phenomenon can explain Mr. Biegel’s life in music, having heard only vibrations in his formative years.

Jeffrey Biegel, pianist

2010 Repertoire Report

1. Anderson: Concerto in C
2. Bach: Toccata in d minor
3. Bach: Partita no. 2 in c minor
4. Bach: Toccata in e minor
5. Bach: French Suite no. 5 in G Major
6. Bach: Prelude in Fugue in D Major WTC I
7. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp Major WTC II
8. Balakirev: Islamey
9. Beethoven: Concerto no. 5 (Emperor)
10. Biegel (arr) Hey Ho, the Wind and the Rain (SSA/piano by Biegel)
11. Biegel (composer) There Shines a Light Ahead (Soprano solo, SATB, piano)
12. Bolcom: Prometheus, for piano, orchestra and chorus (World Premiere)
13. Chasins: Rush Hour in Hong Kong
14. Chopin: Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise
15. Chopin: Ballade no. 1 in g minor
16. Copland works for choir and piano
17. Danielpour: Mirrors (World Premiere)
18. Emerson: Concerto no. 1
19. Classical Carols
20. Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (1924 original manuscript)
21. Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (solo)
22. Liebermann: Concerto no. 3
23. Poulenc: Aubade
24. Prokofiev: Concerto no. 3
25. Rachmaninoff: prelude in B-flat major, Opus 23, no. 2
26. Tschaikowsky: Concerto no. 1
27. Vivaldi: Four Seasons (transcribed by Biegel)