JEFFREY SWANN – UNITED STATES
Jeffrey Swann enjoys an international performing career which has taken him throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. He won first prize in the Dino Ciani Competition sponsored by La Scala in Milan, a gold medal at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, a bronze medal at the Cliburn Competition, and top honors at the Warsaw Chopin, Vianna da Motta, and Montreal Competitions, as well as the Young Concert Artists auditions in New York City. His large and varied repertoire includes more than 60 concertos, as well as solo works ranging from Bach to Boulez.
In addition to presenting lecture/recitals worldwide, Jeffrey has performed with the orchestras of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Indiana, Dallas, Saint Louis, Phoenix, Houston, Lexington, Baltimore, and Minneapolis; and in Europe with the orchestras of Rotterdam, The Hague, Belgian National and Radio, Santa Cecilia, La Scala, Maggio Fiorentino (Florence), RAI Turin and Rome, Südwest Rundfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Prague Philharmonic, Radio France de Montpellier, and the London Philharmonia, among many others. The conductors with whom he has performed include Zdenek Macal, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Marek Janowski, William Steinberg, Kazimirz Kord, Myung-Whun Chung, Roberto Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, and Leonard Slatkin. Recent concerts include the complete Beethoven Sonatas series at Bargemusic (NY), and recitals and master classes in Arizona, Washington D.C., Sicily, Israel, Italy, Puerto Rico, Portugal, and the Republic of Georgia.
In addition, Jeffrey is an internationally renowned Wagner scholar. He lectures throughout the United States illustrating from the piano and is a frequent guest of the Bayreuth Festival. He has written extensively on Wagner, most recently an article on Wagner and Proust, published by Oxford University Press.
He studied with Alexander Uninsky at Southern Methodist University and with Beveridge Webster and Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School, where he received his B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. Degrees. He has made recordings for Ars Polona, Deutsche-Gramophon, RCA-Italy, Replica, Fonit-Cetra, Music & Arts, and Agorá. His CD, “The Virtuoso Liszt” (Music & Arts), won the Liszt Society’s Grand Prix, and his first volume of the Complete Beethoven Sonatas (Agorá) was chosen one of the Best of the Year by Fanfare magazine. His recordings are now available online through NAR Classical.
Jeffrey Swann served as artistic director of the Dino Ciani Festival & Academia (Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy) and artistic director of the Scuola Normale Superiore’s Concert Series (Pisa). He is currently Professor of Piano at New York University and the President’s Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Northern Arizona University, where he was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate.