Originally released in 1975, Joan Micklin Silver's theatrical feature debut Hester Street was re-released in October 2021 in a new 4K restoration from the original negative.
Read moreWelcome
National Medal of Arts, Pulitzer Prize, and Grammy Award-winner William Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer of chamber, operatic, vocal, choral, cabaret, ragtime, and symphonic music.
He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan's School of Music in 1973, was named the Ross Lee Finney Distinguished University Professor of Composition in 1994, and retired in 2008 after 35 years. Bolcom won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1988 for 12 New Etudes for Piano, and his setting of William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience on the Naxos label won four Grammy Awards in 2005.
As a pianist Bolcom has performed and recorded his own work frequently in collaboration with his wife and musical partner, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris. Cabaret songs, show tunes, and American popular songs of the 20th century have been their primary specialties in both concerts and recordings. Their 25th album, "Autumn Leaves," was released in 2015.
In 2018, nine world premieres of Bolcom works commemorated William Bolcom's 80th birthday.
Updates...
A ghostly "Graceful Ghost"
In this age of virtual performances, the saxophone sextet The Moanin' Frogs took a unique approach to filming an elegant, ghostly version of Bolcom's Graceful Ghost.
Read moreNew recording released! "Album for the Young" with fellow pianist Logan Skelton
Composer-pianist William Bolcom fulfills a lifetime passion for Schumann's Album for the Young, pieces designed for young children.
Read more2021 Begins with American Composers Orchestra Composer-to-Composer Talk
William Bolcom & Gabriela Lena Frank will discuss Bolcom's Symphony No. 9 online on Wednesday, January 13 - live streamed on Facebook and YouTube.
Read moreIris named after "Graceful Ghost"
Horticulturist Robert Hollingworth wrote us to share a photo of the Graceful Ghost Iris, which he hybridized and named after Bolcom’s beloved ragtime piece.
Read moreDiscography
Calendar
Ken-David Masur, conductor; Ilana Setapen, Violin. Haydn’s Symphony No. 96, one of his famed London symphonies, earned its nickname “Miracle” when a chandelier fell during its premiere and — miracle! — killed no one. This program also includes Prokofiev’s playful Classical Symphony, composed on an idyllic farm against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution; Schoenberg’s moody “Accompaniment to a Film Scene;” and a jazz-infused violin concerto by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom, performed here by the MSO’s own Acting Concertmaster Ilana Setapen.
New relationships and new sounds spring to life for the Mahler Chamber Orchestra debuts of conductor Elim Chan and pianist Igor Levit – plus the world premiere of William Bolcom's Piano Concerto No. 2 – at the MCO's annual residency at the Heidelberger Frühling festival. William Bolcom has won the Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy Award, and studied with both Olivier Messiaen and Darius Milhaud. His output has been a continual challenge to the artificial distinction of serious and popular music, and in using music to address both the general public and informed audiences, he is well-suited for the soloist of his latest piano concerto. Igor Levit established himself early on in his career for his formidable technique, the range of his repertoire and his meaningfully constructed programmes.
Bolcom: Piano Concerto No. 2
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Platz d. Deutschen Einheit 4, 20457 , Hamburg, Germany
New relationships and new sounds spring to life for the Mahler Chamber Orchestra debuts of conductor Elim Chan and pianist Igor Levit – plus William Bolcom's brand new Piano Concerto No. 2 – for the MCO's return to Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie. William Bolcom has won the Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy Award, and studied with both Olivier Messiaen and Darius Milhaud. His output has been a continual challenge to the artificial distinction of serious and popular music, and in using music to address both the general public and informed audiences, he is well-suited for the soloist of his latest piano concerto. Igor Levit established himself early on in his career for his formidable technique, the range of his repertoire and his meaningfully constructed programmes.