Donald Berman Piano

Recent Performance Spotlight Hartford Courant: Berman Steals the Show January 9, 2010 Thursday, Friday & Saturday January 7, 8 & 9, 2010, 8pm Sunday, January 10, 2010, 3pm Hartford Symphony Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Hartford, CT Christopher Theofanidis’s Piano Concerto (2006) Frederic Chopin Là ci darem la mano Variations for Piano and Orchestra op. 2 (1827) More info
Recent Feature Article "Beyond Classical Music’s Hit Parade", Tufts Journal, Taylor McNeil, Dec. 2 2009 New Recordings
Music by Su Lian Tan Featuring U-Don Rock and Jamaica’s Songs Jamaica Kincaid & John Elder, Readers Brenda Patterson, Mezzo-soprano Szilvia Schranz, Soprano David Bowlin, Violin Darrett Adkins, Cello Margo Garrett & Donald Berman, Piano
Americans in Rome: Music by Fellows of the American Academy in Rome (Bridge Records) November 2008 This FOUR-CD SET of music by Rome Prize-winning composers from 1920 to 2000 offers a compelling glimpse of the history of American music, with American masters side by side with younger innovators and fresh discoveries from the past. Fanfare has named "Americans in Rome: Music by Fellows of the American Academy in Rome" on its 2009 "Want List". "Americans in Rome," a BBC Magazine North American CD of the month Gramophone Review, March 2009 Fanfare, May/June 2009 Newmusic Box Review "Donald Berman Shakes Off Some Roman Dust" In 1997, the American pianist Donald Berman forced open three old file cabinets in a musty attic above the Janiculum, the highest hill within walled Rome, and found enough years of work for each of his 10 fingers...Berman is a terrific pianist... In short, an impressive resurrection. —JEFF DUNN San Francisco Classical Voice (June 2009) "I cannot think of another set of recordings that so deftly and thoughtfully attempts an overview of the evolution of American art music, in all of its range and great energy." —PETER BURWASSER FANFARE MAGAZINE (May/June 2009)	WOSU-FM interview The four-CD set, Americans in Rome, attempts an overview of the evolution of American art music, in all of its range and great energy, with music from the American Academy in Rome from 1929 and continuing to nearly the present. With nearly five hours of material, the listener is tempted to answer the very question of what defines American music. It may ultimately be unanswerable, but it is an exhilarating journey nevertheless. -Fanfare Magazine, November 09
*The Light That is Felt: Songs by Charles Ives* Susan Narucki, Soprano Donald Berman, Piano (New World Records) October 2008 27 songs by Charles Ives representing a wide range of his compositions. Each song, in its own way, evokes memory through stories and characters drawn from Ive's life. Susan Narucki and I have each had a lifelong involvement with the music of Ives and together are developing an evening-length performance piece based on this CD. BBC Magazine, February 09, Choice of the Month The New Yorker's Russell Platt on the best classical CD's of late includes "The Light That is Felt: Songs of Charles Ives". The New York Times Review, January 16, 2009. Diverdi, February 09 Wire, February 09 "There's probably no finer introduction to Ives's songs, or indeed to his output as a whole." - Andy Hamilton, "Wire" February 2009 "From the first line of Songs my Mother Taught Me, I am captivated by this New World release" - James North, FANFARE March 2009
New Program Offering *When Brahma Sleeps* An evening-length program of electro-acoustic music, featuring the music of Mark Wingate. Funded in part by a grant from the Argosy contemporary Music Fund. "Building a Mountain of the Avant-Garde" The New York Times, March 3, 2009 NY TIMES FEBRUARY 26, 2009: DONALD BERMAN (Sunday) This adventurous pianist has been making news lately. He accompanies the soprano Susan Narucki on an acclaimed recent recording of Ives songs, on the New World label, titled ³The Light That Is Felt.² He is also the artistic director and a pianist for a four-CD set on the Bridge label, ³Americans in Rome,² presenting music by composers who have been fellows at the American Academy in Rome. On Sunday evening, Mr. Berman¹s program, ³When Brahma Sleeps,² offers works that combine piano and electro-acoustics by Mark Wingate, Eric Moe, David Rakowski, Su Lian Tan and Eric Chasalow.
Audio Clips from Recent Performances John Cage: Interlude No. 4 Monadnock Music Festival Peterborough, New Hampshire Christopher Theofanidis: Piano Concerto, movement I Belgrade Philharmonic, Belgrade, Serbia Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, Columbus, Ohio Mark Wingate: When Brahma Sleeps Music On the Edge, Pittsburgh, PA Distler Hall, Tufts University