Classics 2012-2013 Biographies - The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

A Poet’s Inspiration
Fri, Nov. 2, 10:30am
Sat, Nov. 3, 8pm
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, honored guest
Michael Boriskin, piano
Mikhail Svetlov, bass
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No. 2
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.13, “Babi Yar”
Elizabeth Dworkin
Dworkin & Company
PO Box 248
Bedford Hills, NY 10507
914.244.3803
Elizabeth@DworkinCompany.com
http://www.dworkincompany.com/html/boriskin/boriskin_artist.html
MICHAEL BORISKIN has become recognized on five continents as one of the most imaginative and versatile American pianists of
his generation. Whether the composer is Mozart or Beethoven, Brahms or Ravel, Copland or Gershwin, Perle or Lutoslawski, Mr.
Boriskin offers "an adventure for the audience" (The New York Times). Each performance and recording attests to a vivid
communicativeness, natural expressivity, and deeply musical virtuosity that have made him one of the most highly-­‐regarded
exponents of both old and new works.
Mr. Boriskin has performed throughout the United States and in over 30 countries. His extensive international itinerary includes
the San Francisco, Seattle, and Utah Symphonies, New York Chamber Symphony, Polish National and Munich Radio Orchestras,
American Composers Orchestra, and UNAM Philharmonic of Mexico City, among many other orchestras. He has performed at
many of the world's foremost concert venues, including Lincoln Center (on its Great Performers Series), the Kennedy Center,
Carnegie Hall, BBC in London, South West German Radio, Theatre des Champs-­‐Elysées in Paris, Vienna's Arnold Schoenberg Center,
Athens Festival of Music and Dance, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Library of Congress, and Istanbul International Festival. His
performances, recordings, and commentary figure regularly on National Public Radio, where his innovative broadcast series
CENTURYVIEW, celebrating piano works of the past hundred years, was enjoyed for three seasons by over one-­‐million listeners on
200 stations coast-­‐to-­‐coast. Mr. Boriskin is also a much sought-­‐after guest with chamber ensembles worldwide, and has worked
with the Borromeo, St. Petersburg, St. Lawrence, Penderecki, Ludwig, and Lark String Quartets, Dorian and Arioso Wind Quintets,
and the New York Philharmonic Ensembles.
A prolific recording artist, Mr. Boriskin's impressive discography on BMG/Conifer, New World, Koch International, Albany, and
many other labels ranges widely from Brahms and Tchaikovsky through the present, and continues to grow in depth and breadth.
His BMG recording of Gershwin's complete works for piano and orchestra with the Eos Orchestra conducted by Jonathan Scheffer
was awarded a coveted Rosette from Britain’s Penguin Guide to Recordings. He recorded five concerti for Newport Classic,
including the rarely-­‐heard Tchaikovsky Second and the Prokofiev First. He has four highly-­‐acclaimed discs of postwar American
piano works on New World Records, which have often appeared on Best Recordings lists of The New York Times and many other
publications. On Bridge and Albany, he has recorded both of George Perle's towering piano concerti (the second of which was
written for Mr. Boriskin). Other solo discs have been devoted to Brahms (Music & Arts), Poulenc (Musical Heritage Society), Joplin
(BMG, appearing on Crossover Charts in the U.K.), and Lou Harrison (Newport Classic), as well as concerti by Richard Danielpour
and Edward Smaldone (Bridge and CRI, respectively).
As the Los Angeles Times noted, Mr. Boriskin's lively programming is "a paragon of enlightenment," and he actively seeks, through
content and presentation, to refresh and broaden the concert experience. His vast repertoire reaches back to the works of
Rameau, Scarlatti, Bach, and other Baroque masters, and he has also worked with virtually every major American composer of the
past 30 years.
Long ago, Mr. Boriskin broke the constraints of a traditional performing career, with major institutions enlisting his many talents.
As Artistic and Executive Director of Copland House, he has guided the national emergence of this unique creative center for
American music based at Aaron Copland's restored, longtime New York home. He has served as an artistic advisor for programs
and projects at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y, Columbia University's Kathryn
Bache Miller Theatre, New Line Cinema, and the fabled Arnold Schoenberg Institute in Los Angeles, and has traveled as an emissary
for the U. S. Department of State and the U. S. Information Agency. For the New York Philharmonic, he played a significant role as