Jeffrey Milarsky is a
conductor of
contemporary music
Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
In the United States and abroad, he has premiered and recorded works of composers including
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor.
He composed more than ...
,
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his Serialism, serial and electronic music.
Biography
Babbitt was born in Philadelphia t ...
,
Elliott Carter,
Lasse Thoresen
__NOTOC__
Lasse Thoresen (born 18 October 1949) is a Norwegian composer whose works concentrate on a contemporary transformation of the folk-music traditions of many peoples, especially those of Scandinavia.
Biography
Thoresen was born in Oslo in ...
,
Gerard Grisey
Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...
, Jonathan Dawe,
Tristan Murail,
Ralph Shapey
Ralph Shapey (12 March 1921 – 13 June 2002) was an American composer and conductor.
Biography
Shapey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is known for his work as a composition professor at the University of Chicago, where he taught ...
,
Luigi Nono,
Mario Davidovsky
Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...
, and
Wolfgang Rihm. His wide-ranging repertoire has enabled him to lead such groups as the
American Composers Orchestra
The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including:
* Zankel Hall at ...
, the
New York New Music Ensemble
The New York New Music Ensemble (NYNME) is an American contemporary music ensemble. Since 1976, the group has commissioned, performed and recorded works by both emerging and prominent living composers. Its performances have been featured at several ...
,
the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music in New York City. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber music. CMS's home is ...
, the Columbia Sinfonietta,
Speculum Musicae
Speculum Musicae is an American chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in New York City in 1971 and is particularly noted for its performances of the music of Elliott Carter and Charles Wuo ...
, Cygnus Ensemble, the Fromm Players at Harvard University, the Composers' Ensemble at Princeton University, and the
New York Philharmonic chamber music series. Most recently, he has joined the conducting faculty of
The Juilliard School as artistic director of the
AXIOM Ensemble. He also serves as artistic director and conductor of the
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...
Percussion Ensemble and as percussion faculty in the school's contemporary music performance program.
A
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
ist who has performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic among other ensembles, Milarsky is professor of music at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he is the music director–conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra. Also at Columbia, Milarsky is music director and conductor of the Columbia Sinfonietta, which concentrates on 20th- and 21st-century scores. This ensemble performs, tours and records throughout the United States.
In August 2003, Milarsky made his debut with the
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is a Norwegian orchestra based in Bergen. Its principal concert venue is the Grieg Hall.
History
Established in 1765 under the name ''Det Musicalske Selskab'' (The Musical Society), it later changed its name t ...
. In 2004 he opened the ULTIMA Festival in Oslo. That season also included conducting dates in Norway, Italy, Paris, and Austria. In 2006 Milarsky substituted for
James Levine at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
, conducting an all-Babbitt program with the MET Chamber Ensemble. At
IRCAM, he recorded and performed music by Murail and
Joshua Fineberg
Joshua Fineberg (born July 26, 1969) is an American composer of contemporary classical music.
Biography
Joshua Fineberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He began his musical studies at the age of five. He completed his undergraduate studies at ...
with the ENSEMBLE FA. In 2007 he conducted the
American Composers Orchestra
The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including:
* Zankel Hall at ...
at Carnegie Hall.
Milarsky made his European debut conducting the
BIT20 Ensemble
The BIT20 Ensemble is a contemporary music ensemble from Bergen, Norway, founded in 1989. It was formed in the merger of the quartet, Bit4, and Ensemble 20.
The ensemble has headquarters at Grieghallen. During its history, BIT20 Ensemble has per ...
in a tour of Norway and the Baltic states. He conducted the Cygnus Ensemble in the world premiere of Babbitt's ''Swansong'', the world premiere and recording of Davidovsky’s ''Flashbacks'', and several area premieres of the music of Grisey: ''Les Espaces acoustiques'' (New York premiere) for Columbia University's "Music for a New Century" series and ''Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil'' (American premiere) with Speculum Musicae. With the Ensemble Sospeso, he has conducted three United States premieres by Rihm and two by Murail.
Milarsky received his bachelor and master of music degrees from the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding leadership and achievement in the arts. He regularly conducts the Juilliard Orchestra, with which he has premiered over 70 works by Juilliard student composers. He is also on Juilliard's Pre-College percussion faculty, and served as director of its Composition Forum.
As a chamber and orchestral musician, Milarsky performs and records regularly with the New York Philharmonic, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the American Composers Orchestra, the Stamford Symphony, and Concordia. He has recorded for Angel, Bridge, Teldec, Telarc, New World, CRI, MusicMasters, EMI, Koch, and London records.
Milarsky is the Music Director of
AXIOM
An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or f ...
,
Juilliard's contemporary music ensemble.
He is a 1984 graduate of
Central High School in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
References
* Tiffany Martini
State of the Art ''Strings'' Magazine, August/September 2006, No. 141
* http://www.juilliard.edu/update/press/upload2006-07/122106_axiom.pdf
* http://www.juilliard.edu/42106_axiom.erelease.pdf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milarsky, Jeffrey
Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni
Juilliard School alumni
Juilliard School faculty
Living people
Manhattan School of Music faculty
American male conductors (music)
Columbia University faculty
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American conductors (music)
21st-century American male musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)