Piano on Park presents:
Rob Schwimmer: a Theremin Soirée
Celebrate the 100th birthday of the theremin with an intimate evening of beautiful music by Rob Schwimmer, one of the world's top thereminists.
Doors at 7.00 pm; Music at 7:30 pm
Admission: $20 - all proceeds go to musicians
PROGRAM:
Program may include music by Korngold, Rachmaninoff, Bernard Herrmann, Wagner, Zemlinsky and others... Selections announced from the stage.
Rob Schwimmer is a composer-pianist, thereminist, vocalist and Continuum player who has performed and recorded throughout the world. The New York Times praises Rob for his "Virtuosity, magic, and humor." He has worked with Simon and Garfunkel,Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Esperanza Spalding, Stevie Wonder, Bobby McFerrin, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Gotye, Chaka Khan, Laurie Anderson, Bette Midler, Queen Latifah, Arif Mardin, Adam Guettel, Paul Bley, The Boston Pops, Mary Cleere Haran, T-Bone Walker, Sam Rivers, Ethan Iverson, Marc Shaiman, Uri Caine, The Everly Brothers, David Krakauer, Christian Marclay, Matthew Barney, Ang Lee, Maria Schneider, Michel Gondry, A-ha, Mark Morris, Vince Bell, Trey Anastasio, The Klezmatics, Bob Neuwirth, Bernie Worrell, Sxip Shirey, Gotye’s Ondioline Orchestra, Nels Cline, Jack Douglas, Annette Peacock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marshall Brickman, Karen Black, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Josh Groban, David Soldier, Mabou Mines, Geoffrey Holder, John Cale, Steve Buscemi, Iva Bittova,Theo Bleckmann, John Stubblefield, Burt Bacharach, The Roches, Jack Quartet, Scott Robinson, Edie Brickell, Teo Macero, Hal Willner, Vernon Reid, Ethel, James Emery, Bela Fleck, Lenny Kaye, Kurt Vonnegut, Tamar Muskal, Anjani Thomas, Odetta, Drepung Loseling Tibetan Monks, Sussan Deyhim, producer John Simon, Joseph Jarman, Alwin Nikolai/ Murray Louis Dance Company, Marc Ribot, Frank London, C&C Music Factory and Sammy Davis Jr. among others.
Working as a solo artist and as a founding member of the highly acclaimed Polygraph Lounge duo (“Mad genius should always be this fun!” NYT) with multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart (Bang On A Can Allstars/Paul Simon) Rob’s latest solo album “Heart of Hearing” elicited the following from Stereophile: “It’s a stunner—Mesmerizing, haunting, flush with drama and wit. Schwimmer immerses himself in whatever genre he's traversing or transcending. Across all realms, he's a virtuoso.” Allan Kozinn called Heart of Hearing “a manifesto of sorts — a proclamation that all styles are fair game if you can play them convincingly and if you have the technique and imagination to move between them without ever sounding out of your element…an extraordinary level of detail… Paul Simon’s “Sound of Silence”is recast… even darker and more haunting than the original.” Gary Giddins wrote “For anyone who thinks the magical properties of 88 keys are pretty well exhausted, Rob Schwimmer’s Heart of Hearing may come as something of a revelation. This is piano music that creates its own field, neither jazz nor classical nor pop, and with a touch of Theremin to boot. The fusion of virtuosity and originality is by turns amusing and moving, no less so in his treatment of standards than in his originals, all of it invoking a dazzling clarity of purpose.” Point of Departure said, "... there is a great deal of wisdom – and wit and genuine tenderness – in Schwimmer's art.” Renowned choreographer Mark Morris offered: "Kooky, crazy, terrifying and gorgeous!" Rob's solo first solo CD "Beyond The Sky" was widely lauded in both classical and jazz publications: Hailed as "Extraordinary" in Gramophone and "Shaping up to be the finest solo piano CD of the year" in The NYC Jazz Record.
Schwimmer has also recently performed his own version of Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue with orchestra. Rob was commissioned by The Metropolitan Museum to write new music for the 50th anniversary showing of the movie “A Charlie Brown Christmas” for jazz trio and “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” for jazz quartet. With Mark Stewart, Polygraph Lounge has received 2 commissions from Carnegie Hall for full length concerts.
A founding member and former co-director of The NY Theremin Society, Rob is one of the top theremin virtuosos in the world and has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, The NY Times, Wall St Journal, WNYC, WQXR and the popular PBS series "History Detectives”. Rob is the thereminist for Ethan Iverson’s (The Bad Plus) “Pepperland,” a full length dance piece for The Mark Morris Dance Group which premiered in Liverpool in 2017 as part of Liverpool’s “Sgt. Pepper at 50” celebration and concluding the 2019 season with a 4 night run at The Kennedy Center. His appearances as theremin soloist include The Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Caramoor, The Boston Pops at Symphony Hall, with Bobby McFerrin at Carnegie Hall and Simon & Garfunkel's world tours from 2003-2010. In addition to his CD Theremin Noir (with Uri Caine and Mark Feldman) Rob has performed as featured thereminist on Trey Anastasio's CD Traveler, Matthew Barney’s epic movie Cremaster 3, the 2009 R.W. Goodwin feature Alien Trespass, CBS television series Now and Again and A&E's Breakfast With the Arts. He was chosen to perform in a sold out concert at the Disney Concert Hall (LA) as part of legendary The 10 Piece Theremin Orchestra. Rob was recently interviewed by Faith Salie (Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me) for CBS Sunday Morning and The NY Theremin Society concert was filmed as part of the same segment about the resurgence of the theremin. Schwimmer premiered a new silent movie soundtrack (The Fall of the House of Usher--1928) featuring live theremin at The NY Theremin Society's recent residency at Bucknell University and given its NYC premiere at The Tribeca New Music Festival.
Rob is also a leading player of the Haken Continuum fingerboard. Recent recording sessions on Continuum include Esperanza Spalding’s new “12 Little Spells” album, Paul Simon and Trey Anastasio. Rob recently gave the world premiere of Martinu's Fantasty for Theremin or Ondes Martenot, Oboe, Piano, and String Quartet on the Haken Continuum at The Moab Music Festival in Utah. Rob is also ondioline soloist with Gotye’s Ondioline Orchestra which has played to acclaim from NYC to Moogfest to Tasmania and the Sydney Festival. The Australia performances won the coveted Helpmann Award. Rob has also done arrangements for Gotye.
He composed the score for Cynthia Wade's 2008 Academy Award winner "Freeheld" in the Documentary Short category as well as collaborating on David Frankel's Oscar winner "Dear Diary" for Dreamworks (their first Oscar) in the Live Action Short in 1997. Rob's compositions have been featured in theater, television series and movies, silent films, documentaries and feature films as well as Rob's continuing series of solo concerts.
He has performed at venues all over the world including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Weiner Konzerthaus, Tokyo Dome, Madison Square Garden, The Kennedy Center, The Metropolitan Museum, The Stone, The Museum of Modern Art, The Blue Note, CBGB’s, The Stone and the Colosseum (Rome) before a crowd of over 600, 000 as well as playing for strippers at a truckers’ convention.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
This concert has limited seating available (First Come First Sit!). If you need to be able to sit, please kindly send us a message so we can reserve a chair for you. Also keep in mind that the event is taking place in a "shoe-free zone". Choose your socks wisely!
About Piano on Park:
Piano on Park offers an intimate and refreshing way to experience live music. The house concert series was launched when pianist Cyrus von Hochstetter opened his doors to host regular performances by soloists, chamber ensembles and small bands of all musical styles and colors. The venue enables a direct and unhindered exchange between performers and public, resulting in a unique and impactful musical experience.