cyberecital.com

`The first LIVE Audio/Video Piano Recital on the Net!`

MILLENNIUM COMMISSIONING PROJECT

The "Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra" grew out of discussions in 1998 between pianist Jeffrey Biegel and arts consultant Jeffrey James regarding Mr. Biegel's interest in commissioning new music. Then, in January 1999, Mr. Biegel, having known and admired the music of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, decided to contact the composer and speak with her about such a commission. She quickly agreed, having been greatly impressed with Mr. Biegel's playing.

The process of identifying and contacting orchestras to become members of the consortium began in earnest in the spring of 1999. The vast majority of these contacts came about due to Jeffrey Biegel's having performed previously with the orchestra or current Music Director, or having worked with the administrator at some point in his career. Mr. Biegel usually made the initial contact and Jeffrey James followed up with written materials and coordination of the amount the orchestra was contributing to the commissioning fee. Then, in the summer of 1999, Monica Robinson became Mr. Biegel's booking representative and immediately brought a number of her contacts to the project as well we also agreed to work with the American Music Center in the gathering, administering and disbursal of the commissioning consortium monies

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra was the first major orchestra to join the consortium and agreed to present the World Premiere of the work in September of 2000.

The group of orchestras crosses the entire spectrum of sizes and geographic locations. The project team includes 27 orchestras across the U.S. and 2 foundations and private sponsorship. This "ecumenical" group represents a complete cross-section of the American symphony orchestra community. The members of the consortium with the conductors leading the performances with pianist Jeffrey Biegel are:

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Jesus Lopez-Cobos World Premiere

Acadiana Symphony, Xiao Lu-Li Louisiana Premiere
Alabama Symphony, Richard Westerfield Alabama Premiere
Albany Symphony, Claire Fox Hillard Georgia Premiere
American Symphony, Leon Botstein New York Premiere
Bangor Symphony, Christopher Zimmerman Maine Premiere
Battle Creek Symphony, Matthew Hazelwood Michigan Premiere
Brooklyn Conservatory Orchestra, Richard Barrett (Brooklyn, New York)
Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Steven Larsen (Illinois)
El Paso Symphony, Gurer Aykal Texas Premiere
Florida Philharmonic, James Judd Florida Premiere
Greeley Philharmonic, Howard Skinner Colorado Premiere
Huntington Symphony, Kimo Furamoto West Virginia Premiere
Idaho Falls Symphony, George Adams Idaho Premiere
Kenosha Symphony, Miriam Burns Wisconsin Premiere
Lawton Philharmonic, Miriam Burns Oklahoma Premiere
Meridian Symphony, Claire Fox Hillard Mississippi Premiere
Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra, Paul Perry California Premiere
Norwalk Symphony, Jonathan Sheffer (guest conductor) Connecticut Premiere
Rockford Symphony, Steven Larsen Illinois Premiere
Rogue Valley Symphony, Arthur E. Shaw Oregon Premiere
San Luis Obispo Symphony, Michael Nowak (California)
South Arkansas Symphony, Kermit Poling Arkansas Premiere
Sun Cities Symphony, James Yestadt Arizona Premiere
Western Piedmont Symphony, John Gordon Ross North Carolina Premiere
Westmoreland Symphony, Kypros Markou Pennsylvania Premiere
Wyoming Symphony, Curtis Peacock Wyoming Premiere
Abraham J. and Phyllis Katz Foundation
Adele Marcus Foundation
Marvin and Isa Leibowitz

These performances will be presented throughout the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons. The composer has described the work in this way:

The musical point of departure of "Millennium Fantasy" is a folk song my grandmother sang to me when I was a small child. I can still "hear" her voice when I remember this, so I thought it would be a special pleasure to create a musical fantasy based on it.
"Millennium Fantasy" is in two movements in which the folk song occasionally rears its head, but more often serves as a springboard for a larger musical design. While there is significant interaction between the solo piano and the orchestra, the solo piano leads the exploration in virtuosic style.

The instrumentation for the work is-

Solo piano;
2 flutes (piccolo);
oboe;
English horn;
clarinet;
bass clarinet;
bassoon;
contrabassoon;
2 horns;
2 trumpets;
percussion (1 player);
strings

For more information about Jeffrey Biegel, please visit his website at http://www.cyberecital.com. For more information about this consortium, please contact Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 1-516-797-9199 or jamesarts@worldnet.att.net.

For booking information about Jeffrey Biegel, please contact Monica Robinson, Ltd. Artist Management at 1-914-962-6062 or MRLTD6062@aol.com.