52nd Annual Grammy Award Nominees 01/05/2010
Grammy.com, January, 2010 — Best Classical Contemporary Composition, Wyner, Yehudi: Piano Concerto "Chiavi In Mano" Yehudi Wyner (Robert Spano) Track from: Wyner, Yehudi: Orchestral Works [Bridge Records] Add Comment New York Times, August 12, 2009 — ... a polished ensemble, led by Zachary Boeding’s carefully shaped oboe-playing, performed Yehudi Wyner’s rugged Quartet for Oboe and String Trio (1999). Boston Globe, June 21, 2009 — If you go to a classical concert in Boston - one with music that really matters, whether old or new - there’s a good chance you’ll find the composer Yehudi Wyner perched near the back of the hall, surveying the scene with warm eyes and a knowing presence. Bump into him at intermission and he might dispense a wry joke or a casual but penetrating remark about what you’ve just heard. He’s not there simply for a pleasant night out but because, in short, he is one of the most actively engaged composers you will meet. Wyner, who is also a fine pianist and conductor, an adored teacher, and the city’s all-around musical mensch-in-residence, turned 80 this month and there have been generous tribute concerts here and in New York. And a new CD out on the Bridge label finally gives listeners a chance to encounter or meet again his Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto “Chiavi in Mano,’’ in a superb performance by Robert Levin and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, recorded in concert under the baton of Robert Spano in February 2005. Two Pulitzer Winners and One Eclectic Mix 05/29/2009
New York Times, May 29, 2009 — In time for Yehudi Wyner’s 80th birthday, on Monday, the Bridge label has released a splendid recording of four major works by this respected American composer, including his piano concerto “Chiavi in Mano,” awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for music. A comprehensive musician, Mr. Wyner is an elegant pianist, a fine conductor, a prolific composer and a revered teacher. His works show a deep understanding of what sounds good and is technically efficient. His musical interests range widely. I have heard him discuss insightfully both Monteverdi’s approach to recitative and Frank Sinatra’s legato singing. Whimsy, resonance on night 2 of Ditson fest 09/20/2008
Boston Globe, September 20, 2008 — Yehudi Wyner's "On this most voluptuous night" is an arresting setting of poetry by William Carlos Williams (persuasively sung by soprano Karyl Ryczek), full of lean harmonies and sinewy expressive writing. The first movement, with its silvery sonorities and hushed violin arpeggios, seems to breathe the air of Schoenberg's "Verklärte Nacht." David Rakowski's "Imaginary Dances" were fast, dense, and vigorous. Yehudi Wyner Wins Pulitzer Prize for Music 04/17/2006
Playbill Arts, April 17, 2006 — Yehudi Wyner has won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his piano concerto Chiavi in Mano, Columbia University announced today. The concerto was premiered by the Boston Symphony, with Robert Levin as soloist, on February 17, 2005. ... In a review of the premiere performance, Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer wrote, "The allusions—not quotations—range from Baroque briskness through Prokofievian percussive motor rhythms to torch song, jazz, rock, and honky-tonk with washboard accompaniment, all viewed through the lens of a personal, flexible, and highly chromatic musical language." |
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