Charles Neidich (U.S.A.) Hailed by the New Yorker as
“a master of his instrument and beyond a
clarinetist”, Charles Neidich has been described as
one of the most mesmerizing musicians performing
before the public today. He regularly appears as
soloist and as collaborator in chamber music programs
with leading ensembles including the Saint Louis
Symphony, Minneapolis Symphony, Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra, I Musici di Montreal, Tafelmusik,
Handel/Haydn Society, Royal Philharmonic, Deutsches Philharmonic,
MDR Symphony, Yomiuri Symphony, National Symphony of
Taiwan, and the Juilliard, Guarneri, Brentano, American,
Mendelssohn, Carmina, Colorado, and Cavani String
Quartets. Mr. Neidich has performed throughout Europe, Asia, and
the United States, and is a sought after participant
at many summer festivals such as the Marlboro and Sarasota festivals
in
the USA, the Orford and Domaines Forget festivals in
Canada, BBC Proms in England, Festival Consonances and Pontivy
in France, Corsi Internazionali di Perfezionamento in
Italy, Kuhmo, Crusell Week, Turku, and Korsholm festivals in
Finland,
the Apeldoorn Festival in Holland, Music from
Moritzburg in Germany, the Kirishima and Lilia summer festivals in
Japan,
and the Beijing Festival in China. When Charles
Neidich began studying clarinet with his father, Irving Neidich at
the
age of 7, he had already started piano lessons with
his mother, Litsa Gania Neidich. He continued studying both
instruments,
but the clarinet gradually won out, and he went at
the age of 17 to continue studying with the noted clarinet teacher,
Leon
Russianoff. After 4 years at Yale University where he
majored in Anthropology, Charles Neidich went to the Moscow State
Conservatory as the first recipient of a Fulbright
grant to study in the Soviet Union. He studied in Moscow for 3 years
as a student of the clarinetist, Boris Dikov, and the
pianist, Kirill Vinogradov. Known as a leading exponent of period
instrument performance practice (he is the founder of
the noted period instrument wind ensemble, “Mozzafiato”.)
Charles Neidich was one of the first soloists to
improvise cadenzas and ornament classical concertos. He has
performed
his restoration of the Mozart Concerto throughout the
world both on modern and period instruments. Mr. Neidich has
been influential in restoring original versions of
works and bringing them before the public. A list of the clarinet
classics
he has restored to their original form includes works
as diverse as the previously mentioned Mozart Concerto, Concerti
of Weber and Copland, the Soireest cke of Robert
Schumann and the Andante and Allegro of Ernest Chausson. Mr.
Neidich is also an ardent exponent of new music and
has premiered works by Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Edison
Denisov, Helmut Lachenmann, William Schuman, Ralph
Shapey, Joan Tower, Katia Tchemberdji, Vasilii Lobanov
and others. He has championed John Corigliano's
Concerto, performing it throughout the United States notably
with the Syracuse and Jacksonville Symphonies in
performances many have called definitive. His recordings are
available on the Sony Classical, Sony Vivarte,
Deutsche Grammophon, Musicmasters, Hyperion, and Bridge labels.
For Aaron Copland's centennial, he released the world
premiere recording of his reconstruction of the original
version of Copland's Clarinet Concerto with “I Musici
di Montreal” for the Chandos label. Mr. Neidich has turned
his attention in a serious way to conducting, and has
appeared with the Avanti chamber Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta,
Helsinki, at the B??stad Festival in Sweden, the
Kirishima Festival in Japan, with the New World and the San Diego
Symphonies (in a triple role of conductor, soloist,
and composer), and in Bulgaria with the Plovdiv State Philharmonic.
Very active in education, Charles Neidich is on the
faculties of the Juilliard School, Queens College of the City
University of New York, the Manhattan School, and the
Mannes College of Music, and has held visiting positions at
the Sibelius Academy in Finland, the Yale School of
Music, and Michigan State University. He is in demand for master
classes around the world and for innovative lecture
concerts he has devised such as "Old is New: how playing old music
on period instruments is like playing new music on
modern instruments," and "Craft and Drama: how understanding
how Brahms composed makes for a more compelling
performance." With his wife, Ayako Oshima, he has published a
book on the basics of clarinet technique for the
Japanese publisher, TOA Ongaku inc. Last Spring, Charles Neidich was
the recipient of the William Schuman Award given by
the Juilliard School for outstanding performance and scholarship.
Charles Neidich is represented by Diane Saldick:
diane.saldick@verizon.net.