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1701 North State Street Jackson, MS 39210-0001 (800)352-1050 (601)974-1000
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With over thirty years of performing together, the FISCHER DUO has been widely praised by music critics for its choice of repertoire.
Thoroughly versed in the classical repertoire of Brahms, Beethoven, and Schumann, the Fischer Duo has acquired an equally impressive reputation for rediscovering neglected works of the past (Busoni, Boulanger, Foote, and Liszt).
They have commissioned many new scores by gifted contemporary composers such as George Rochberg, David Stock, Robert Sirota, Augusta Read Thomas, Richard Lavenda, Pierre Jalbert, Anthony Brandt, Shih-Hui Chen, and Richard Wilson. "One felt like applauding the Fischer Duo before they even played a note for programming rarely-heard cello music by Chopin and Liszt," wrote a reviewer in the the Washington Post. Last October the Fischer Duo launched a new chamber music festival in Vermont with violinist Curtis Macomber.
The Fischer Duo is also known for enlightened residency work. In 1996 the United States Information Agency (USIA) selected the Fischer Duo as Artistic Ambassadors, and they toured South America and the next year toured South Africa receiving the highest ratings for musical maturity and open access to audiences.
The critic from the The Toledo Blade summed up a concert experience with the Fischer Duo: "If there was a prize for Most Elegant Sound by a Chamber Group, the Fischer Duo would surely win it. The two together have a sort of slow-burning combustion on stage that makes for some really exciting and spontaneous music. This is a pair that really knows their repertoire, and more importantly, knows how to absorb an audience into their own musical universe."
The Fischer Duo has performed on public television and National Public Radio. Their compact disc debut,"Imaginées: Music of French Masters," was given Fanfare magazine's highest recommendation: "For fine sound, on top of probing duo teamwork and elegant program-making."
They have three other compact discs available on the Gasparo label. "American Music in the 1990s" [GSCD-349] includes commissioned works for the duo by George Rochberg, Pierre Jalbert, Samuel Jones, and Augusta Read Thomas. The Strad magazine said, "The duo gives thoroughly persuasive performances of all four works, scratching through the surface gesture to get to the heart of the music's expres-sive potential." Also available on Gasparo is "Robert Sirota: Works for Cello" [GSCD-350] and "Born in America in 1938" [GSCD-351] featuring works by William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Ellsworth Milburn, John Harbison, Joan Tower, and Charles Wuorinen.
After completing instrumental study with Richard Kapuscinski, Claus Adam, and Bernard Greenhouse, Norman Fischer first graced the international concert stage as cellist with the Concord String Quartet, a group that won the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, an Emmy and several Grammy nominations, and recorded over forty works on RCA Red Seal, Vox, Nonesuch, Turnabout, and CRI. The New York Times recently said, "During its sixteen years, the supervirtuosic Concord String Quartet championed con-temporary work while staying rooted in the Western tradition."
In addition to performing the major concertos, Mr. Fischer has premiered and recorded many new scores for cello and orchestra. Recitals of unaccompanied cello works have received rave reviews such as "Inspiring" (The New York Times) for his New York debut recital of the complete Bach Suites in one evening, and "Coruscating" (The Boston Globe) for his performance of Osvaldo Golijov's Omaramor at the opening of the 1998 Tanglewood festival. His chamber music expertise has led to guest appearances with the Audubon, Blair, Cavani, Chester, Chiara, Ciompi, Cleveland, Emerson, Enso, Juilliard, Mendelssohn, and Schoenberg string quartets, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music International, Chamber Music Ann Arbor, CONTEXT, and Da Camera of Houston. A devoted teacher and mentor to younger players, Mr. Fischer has taught at Dartmouth College, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and currently is Professor of Violoncello at the Shepherd School of Music. Since 1985 he has taught at the Tanglewood Music Center, where is now the Coordinator of Strings and Chamber Music.
Jeanne Kierman is a leading advocate of the piano as a collaborative instrument. A graduate of Oberlin College, the Dalcroze School, and the New England Conservatory, she studied with master pianists Miles Mauney, Victor Rosenbaum, William Masselos, and Menahem Pressler. Ms. Kierman is equally adroit as a collaborator with voice or instrument and is in great demand as a recital partner. She has performed for Da Camera of Houston, Chamber Music Ann Arbor, Mohawk Trail Concerts, Skaneateles, and the Marrowstone Festival among others. Since 1992 she has shared her chamber music expertise with students at the Greenwood Music Camp. Formerly on the faculties of Dartmouth College and the Oberlin Conservatory, Ms. Kierman currently serves as Artist Teacher at the Shepherd School of Music.
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