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, 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. The 'Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra' was premiered with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2000. He performed the Boston premiere of the restored, original 1924 manuscript of George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' with the Boston Pops. He has transcribed Balakirev's 'Islamey Fantasy' for piano and orchestra, premiered with the American Symphony Orchestra in 2001. Charles Strouse composed a new work titled 'Concerto America' for Mr. Biegel, premiered with the Boston Pops 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, Harrisburg, and other US orchestras. His new editions for Schirmer's Performance Editions include Schumann's 'Scenes from Childhood' and a new 'Sonatina Album' with accompanying audio cds. In addition to Mr. Biegel's latest recording for Naxos featuring Leroy Anderson's 'Concerto in C', conducted by Leonard Slatkin with the BBC Concert Orchestra for January 2008, Koch International Classics also releases 'Classical Carols' in 2007. Mr. Biegel is currently assembling a global consortium project for William Bolcom's 'Choral Fantasy for Piano, Orchestra and Chorus' for the 2010-2011 season.
Mr. Biegel joined 18 co-commissioning orchestras for Lowell Liebermann's 'Concerto no.3 for Piano and Orchestra' composed exclusively for him for the 2006-07-08 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.
Until the age of 3, Mr. Biegel was unable to hear or 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. American composer Richard Danielpour composes his next concerto for Mr. Biegel, with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Carl St. Clair conducting, in the fall of 2009.
Leonard Bernstein said of pianist Jeffrey Biegel: 'He played fantastic Liszt. He is a splendid musician and a brilliant performer.' He won the First Grand Prize in the 1989 Marguerite Long International Piano Competition and First Prize in the 1985 William Kapell/University of Maryland International Piano Competition. He studied at The Juilliard School with Adele Marcus, herself a pupil of Josef Lhevinne and Artur Schnabel.
Mr. 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 outside New York City with his wife, Sharon, his sons, Craig and Evan.
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