Artist description NICHOLAS ZUMBRO is an authority on the music of Charles Ives. He has long been regarded as an inspired interpreter who has for many years championed Ives's extraordinarily complex and challenging Concord Sonata. He is one of the few pianists to have consistently programmed the Concord and has given the first performance of the work in many countries to great critical acclaim. Mr Zumbro is a professor of piano at the University of Arizona.

Music Style Classical

Similar Artists N/A

Artist History The distinguished American pianist NICHOLAS ZUMBRO has earned critical acclaim throughout Europe and America. His concerts and master classes have taken himn to fesitvals in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Milan, Munich, Genoa, Trieste, Athens, Paris, New York (Lincoln Center), Washington, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Mexico City. Mr Zumbro's recording with the Royal Philharmonic of the Liszt E flat piano concerto won raves and became a bestseller for the MHS label. in 1994, Concert Artists Recordings released his recordings of the complete "Goyescas" of Granados, the Barber Sonata and Ives' notoriously challenging Concord Sonata. In fact, it was Mr. Zumbro who gave the premiere of the Ives Concord Sonata in Amsterdam, Milan and other European centers. A leading authority on the music of Charles Ives, Mr Zumbro has been the subject of feature stories on NBC, CBS and ABC Television. Mr. Zumbro, who is a Senior Professor of Piano at the University of Arizona, has also served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, Indiana University, the University of Hawaii and schools in Greece and England. Among his own distinguished teachers were Rosina Lhevinne, Nadia Boulanger, Wolfgang Rose, Yvonne Lefebure and Johanna Harris. He is the recipient of several grants, including the Potter Career Grant, the Debussy Prize, a Bach Society Fellowhip and a generous study grant from the French Government. He was the director of the Pacific Pianism Symposium and Festival of the Arts of This Century in Hawaii. As a critic, he has written for Opera News and other publications. In addition to a pianist, Mr. Zumbro is also a composer of note. His opera "Kassandra," was given its premiere in Athens in 1990. His song cycle "Childrens Songs" was also given its first performance there in 1993, as was "Hyppolytus."

Instruments Piano

Albums Recordings for Musical Heritage Society; Concert Artist Fidelio.

Press Reviews "Zumbro grasped its vision with heroic force and hurled it like one of Emerson's thunderbolts. Rare are the pianists who possess the mental and physical equipment to tackle Ives' mighty 'Concord Sonata'"-- Andrew Porter, The London Times." "Mr Zumbro..is a musician in whose playing the sun shines, irradiating its environment..He is perfectly at home in Granados's efflorescent sonorities, tenuous asides and melancholy. The authority of his reading is not only in its elegance and imagination but in its audacity. He brings to every phrase the kind of rhythmic life and affective precision that would be the envy of most of his colleagues...This marvelous disc is a sleeper ...it captures an interpretation of the greatest eloquence and easily assumes its place alongside De Larrocha's and Block's as one of the definitive performances of Goyescas" -- John Bell Young, The American Record Guide. "A worthy champion of Ives' music [for the] feat of mastering the technical problems [and for] adding to that a real feeling for the transcendental mystery of the piece." John Rockwell, The New York Times "Given for the first time in Milan the "Concord" Sonata was performed with the greatest success -- the work is denied to him who lacks the highest level of technique and understanding -- by the pianist Nicholas Zumbro" -- Corriere della Sera "Let me thank you again for your dedicated cooperation at the Festival. I especially enjoyed your forceful rendition of my Fourth Sonata." --Ernst Krenek "Endowed with great technical capabilities and a great range of expression, Zumbro conquered this Colossus, offering us a captivating, unforgettable musical experience." Ethnos

Location Tucson, Arizona - USA

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