|
ALLISON BREWSTER FRANZETTI Biography
A multiple Grammy® Nominee and 2008 Grammy® Nominee for Best Instrumental Soloist without Orchestra, pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti has received international acclaim from critics and audiences alike for her stunning virtuosity and musicality, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Her performances include the Grammy® Awards Classical Music Tribute to Earl Wild and Lang Lang at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, the Robert Schumann Festival at the Marcella Sembrich Museum in Lake George, New York, the Campeche Festival in Mexico and at the opening of the VI International Festival of Music at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has also been a guest artist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic (featured on NBC-TV News), the Long Island Philharmonic, the English Sinfonia, the City of Prague Philharmonic, the Denver Symphony, the Colonial Symphony playing her own arrangement for solo piano and orchestra of Camille St. Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals,” the European Women’s Orchestra, and the Adelphi Orchestra, amongst others. She has played the world premiere of “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Carlos Franzetti at the Teatro Colon with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Buenos Aires conducted by Javier LoGioia Urbe, commissioned for Ms. Brewster Franzetti as part of their 50th anniversary season, the European premiere with the Janacek Philharmonic conducted by Dennis Burkh, and the US premiere with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos. Solo recital performances include her critically acclaimed debuts at Merkin Hall in New York and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, her recital debut at the prestigious Wigmore Hall in London, and tours throughout the US, Mexico, Europe, Argentina and Japan. Ms. Brewster Franzetti is the piano soloist on the soundtracks of the 2006 American/Argentine film, “Tango Fatal,” the 2005 Argentine/French film, “Ronda Nocturna,” and the 2003 French/Spanish film, “Dans le rouge du couchant.”
Allison Brewster Franzetti's many CDs include an upcoming series of solo piano music by Mieczyslaw Weinberg to be released by Naxos. In 2010 her CD, "Maurice Ravel - Ma Mere L'Oye, Valses nobles et sentimentales and Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2" was released on Amapola Records. In 2009 “Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 2” by Carlos Franzetti on Amapola Records. Her Grammy®-Nominated CD, “20th Century Piano Sonatas,” was released on the Naxos label in July 2007. Her CD with flutist Kimberly McCoul Risinger, “Sonata Fantasy,” was released on Albany Records in November 2007. Her double concerto CD, “Reflexiones,” was released on Amapola Records. She is the 2003 Grammy® Award Nominee for “Poeta de Arrabal” on Amapola Records for Best Classical Crossover Album and the 2002 Latin Grammy® Award Nominee for “Tango Bar” on Chesky Records for Best Tango Album. Other solo CDs are “South American Landscapes” on Premier Recordings, “Scriabin/Ravel/deFalla” on Amapola Records and “The Unknown Piazzolla” on Chesky Records. Also available on Amapola Records is her world-premiere recording of “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Carlos Franzetti with the Janacek Philharmonic. She is a featured soloist on the 2001 Latin Grammy® Award Winner, “Tango Fatal” on Amapola Records, “Images Before Dawn – Symphonic Music of Carlos Franzetti” on Premier Recordings, and the 1997 Grammy® Award Winner, “Portraits of Cuba” on Chesky Records. She has recorded two major works by Roberto Sierra, “El Mensajero de Plata” and “Bayoan,” with the Bronx Arts Ensemble for Newport Classics and Albany Records. She has also recorded Latin American and English chamber music for the Musical Heritage Society.
An accomplished accompanist and chamber musician, Allison Brewster Franzetti has collaborated with some of the finest performers and composers in the world, including Sir James Galway, John Corigliano, Stephen Paulus, Lowell Liebermann, Melinda Wagner, Paul Moravec, Jennifer Higdon, Robert Aldridge, Victoria Bond, David Maslanka, Ransom Wilson, Eugenia Zukerman, Julius Baker, Robert White, and members of major US and international symphony orchestras. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, festivals in the United States, Mexico and Europe, and on radio and television.
Ms. Brewster Franzetti is the author of synopses for the book, “101 Opera Librettos,” published by Black Dog & Leventhal in New York. She writes liner notes for Amapola Records, Chesky Records, Milan Records, and Premier Recordings.
Born in New York City, Allison Brewster Franzetti received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School. She is a doctoral candidate at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She has won first prizes from the Paderewski Foundation and the Piano Teachers Congress of New York as well as awards from the Kosciuszko Foundation and the Denver Symphony Orchestra. She was the recipient of two HEART (History, Education, Arts – Reaching Thousands) Grants from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Starr Foundation. Ms. Brewster Franzetti was appointed Concert Artist in Piano and Chamber Music at Kean University in 2001 and was elected to the honor society Phi Kappa Phi in 2002. Kean University bestowed its first Graduate Commencement Performing Artist Award on Ms. Brewster Franzetti in 2003. She joined the faculty of Montclair State University in 2007.
Allison Brewster Franzetti served on the board of directors for ArtPride, an organization that supports arts advocacy in the state of New Jersey. She currently serves on the advisory board of Arts High in Newark, New Jersey.
|
