Acclaimed forhis artistry and technical brilliance, violinist Gil Morgenstern is devoted toexploring and expanding the possibilities for inventive classical musicprogramming. His vision is to present the audience with a more complete concertexperience, meticulously curated from start to finish, by organicallyintegrating music with other artistic disciplines in innovative and unexpectedways. The New York Times describes Mr. Morgenstern as a, “brilliant andmusically curious artist.”
As artisticdirector of the Reflections Series, which presents performances throughout the United States and Europe,Mr. Morgenstern creates originalprograms combining music, visual art, poetry and prose in ways that invite theaudience to reflect on the relationships between works of art, and to reflectanew on universal themes. Mr. Morgenstern is also the co-founder andco-artistic director of Nine Circles Chamber Theatre, a creative organizationdedicated to exploring the collaborative nature of inter-disciplinary performance,and of the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, a diverse chamber group specializing inClassical, Romantic and contemporary works of mixed instrumentation.
A violinistwith a long history of performing in the world’s great concert halls, Mr.Morgenstern’s career has taken him to international venues including WigmoreHall, London; Cultural Center Concert Hall, Hong Kong; the American Academy,Rome; Salone dei Cinquecento, Florence; El Teatro Sucre, Quito; Arts Centre andState Theatre, Melbourne, Australia. He has also toured the U.S. extensively,performing in recital and as guest soloist with many leading orchestrasincluding the symphonies of St. Louis, Baltimore, Louisville, Indianapolis,Denver, Milwaukee, New Jersey and North Carolina. New York Times has hailedhis playing as “a perfect demonstration of supreme ability;” “a rare poet ofthe violin” reported The South China Morning Post; “Morgenstern played aprogram that tested every part of a violinist’s equipment and he did it allbeautifully,” wrote The Washington Post.
Mr.Morgenstern has also shared the stage with such eminent musicians as Lynn Harrell, Philippe Entremont,André-Michel Schub, Jeffrey Kahane, Sharon Isbin, and Heinz Holliger, and hascollaborated with United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, PulitzerPrize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, and performance artist Laurie Anderson.
Mr.Morgenstern’s discography includes works by Beethoven, Fauré, Copland, Ravel,Kodaly, Sessions and the award-winning American composer George Tsontakis. Hislatest recording, 20th Century Duos for Violin and Cello, was the No. 1classical CD for over a month on eMusic, the largest online store forindependent music in the world, and was one of the top ten best sellingclassical music albums on Amazon. Of the CD The New York Times raved,“the music is terrific and the performances compelling on this surprisinglyexciting and excellently engineered recording.” Mr. Morgenstern records for theMMC, Engine Company and Koch International Classics labels, and can regularlybe heard on National Public Radio and classical music radio stations across thecountry.
Mr. Morgenstern’s many honors include a command performance at the WhiteHouse, a performance at the inaugural festivities for President Clinton, and acitation from the floor of the House of Representatives entered in theCongressional Record for outstanding service in the arts.
Highlights ofMr. Morgenstern’s recent seasons include performances with the Juilliard Dance Company at LincolnCenter, NCNY Dance Company at An Appalachian Summer Festival and with theBrooklyn Ballet; the premieres of staged versions of The Epic of Gilgamesh,Venus and Adonis with Claire Bloom and John Neville, and SamuelBeckett at 100 at New York City’s 92nd Street Y and at Harvard University.Mr. Morgenstern’s performance in the Nine Circles Chamber Theatre production ofWhen Samson Met Delilah toured Holland to rave reviews and his recentappearance in Toronto was broadcast throughout Canada on CBC. He also appearedas violin soloist in U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky’s translation of Dante’s Infernowhich toured the country and was broadcast on PBS and NPR, for which itreceived a Peabody nomination.
Mr.Morgenstern lives in New York City. For more information, please visit www.gilmorgenstern.comor www.reflectionsseries.com.