Event Details: Jeremy Denk

 American pianist Jeremy Denk has steadily built a reputation as one of today’s most compelling and persuasive artists with an unusually broad repertoire.

He has appeared as soloist with many major orchestras, including the Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New World, St. Louis, and San Francisco Symphonies, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and London Philharmonia. He appears often in recital in New York, Washington, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Jeremy Denk is an avid chamber musician. He has collaborated with many of the world’s finest string quartets, has appeared at the Italian and American Spoleto Festivals, the Santa Fe and Seattle Chamber Music Festivals, the Verbier and Mostly Mozart Festivals, and the Bravo!-Vail Valley and Bard Music Festivals. He has spent several summers at the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Vermont and been part of “Musicians from Marlboro” national tours. He regularly collaborates with cellist Stephen Isserlis at New York’s 92nd Street Y, he is a member of the Bard Conservatory Faculty, and gives numerous lectures and master classes.

In 2004, Denk met and first performed with violinist Joshua Bell at the Spoleto Festival and was invited on a recital tour, sparking off a musical partnership that continues today.They recorded Corigliano’s Violin Sonata for Sony Classical and tour together regularly.

Photo: Fred R. Conrad
The artist’s widely-read blog, “Think Denk”, is highly praised and frequently referenced by many in the music press and industry. There Denk writes about some of his touring, practicing, and otherwise unrelated experiences, as well as delving into fairly detailed musical analyses and essays. Alex Ross, the music critic of the New Yorker, described the pianist as “a superb musician who writes with arresting sensitivity and wit. … This is a voice that, effectively, could never have been heard before the advent of the Internet: sophisticated on the one hand, informal on the other, immediate in impact. Blogs such as this put a human face on an alien culture.”

After graduating from Oberlin College and Conservatory in piano and chemistry, Denk earned a master’s degree in music from Indiana University as a pupil of György Sebök, and a doctorate in piano performance from the Juilliard School, where he worked with Herbert Stessin. He lives in New York City. Denk’s web site and blog are at jeremydenk.net.