After 5 years of bringing the 'Millennium Fantasy' throughout the US to consortium member orchestras for the 'Millennium Commissioning Project' which was created in 1998, the work finally gets its New York Premiere. This project forged an opportunity for other organizations and composers to produce multi-symphony commissioning projects, as it was the first to join many orchestras at a lower consortium fee toward the composer's fee--allowing for multi performances of the new work. A tuba concerto consortium by Russell Peck followed suit and others as well. The press release below describes the New York Premiere:

April 1, 2005
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeffrey James Arts Consulting
516-797-9166 or jamesarts@worldnet.att.net

Pianist Jeffrey Biegel To Perform New York Premiere Of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Millennium Fantasy For Piano And Orchestra with American Symphony – April 8 And 9 Concerts At Bard College

The internationally renowned pianist Jeffrey Biegel will give the last in a series of performances of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Millennium Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra with Maestro Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra on Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9, 2005 – 8 PM both nights at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The concerts will also include performances of Franz Schreker’s “Der Geburtstag der Infantin” and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.

These Millennium Fantasy performances will be the last in a series of more than two dozen performances of the work that Jeffrey Biegel has given with orchestras from Maine to California since its September 2000 Cincinnati Symphony premiere. The composer has described the 20-minute 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.”

Tickets for the April 8 and 9 concerts are $38, with student discounts available. For more information, contact the Fisher Center at Bard College Box Office at (845) 758-7900 or the American Symphony Orchestra at (212) 868-9276.

Referred to by Leonard Bernstein as "a splendid musician and a brilliant performer," pianist Jeffrey Biegel performed the American premiere of the fully restored original 1924 manuscript of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in Boston. He has subsequently performed this piece with orchestras across the U.S. and in Germany. Other recent and future commissions include Charles Strouse’s 2001 “Concerto America", Lowell Liebermann’s: "Concerto No. 3" (with premieres throughout the U.S. and world May 2006-2008); Richard Danielpour’s new concerto for piano and percussion (title tba), to be premiered and performed with Nexus in 2006-07; Daniel Dorff’s "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra", youth orchestra project, World Premiere May 2007 and Adolphus Hailstork’s "Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra", for 2010-11. Jeffrey Biegel’s website is at http://www.cyberecital.com.

The American Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski with a mission to "perform concerts of great music within the means of everyone." As part of Lincoln Center Presents Great Performers, the Orchestra performs thematically organized concerts at Avery Fisher Hall, linking music to the visual arts, literature, politics, and popular culture, often in collaboration with museums and other cultural institutions. With its bold programming, innovative presentation, and commitment to music education, the American Symphony Orchestra seeks to make great music a relevant, accessible, and enjoyable experience for all kinds of listeners. Visit them online at http://www.americansymphony.org/.

For more information about pianist Jeffrey Biegel, contact Jeffrey James Arts Consulting at 516-797-9166 – tel & fax or by E-mail at jamesarts@worldnet.att.net.