Pianist & Composer Natalie Tenenbaum Releases New Album 'Standard Repertoire, Vol. 1'

Natalie Tenenbaum is a composer, pianist, and music producer recognized equally on the stages of Carnegie Hall, SXSW and Broadway for breaking the boundaries between classical composition, popular storytelling, and improvisational jazz to create acoustic and electro-acoustic concert music for a wide scope of artists.

On Friday, June 7, 2024, Platoon releases her newest album, Standard Repertoire, Vol. 1, a reimagining of standard classical piano repertoire by composers Bach, Stravinsky, Liszt, Piazzolla, Chopin, Rimsky-Korsokov, and Tchaikovksy interlaced with Tenenbaum's own original compositions and joined on select tracks by collaborators D Smoke (vocals), SUUVI (cello), and Bryan Carter (drums).

The latest single, out today, features Tenenbaum's arrangement of the iconic Flight of the Bumblebee, and is accompanied by a thrilling birds-eye music video of her whirlwind performance. A suite of three singles titled Chromatic Fantasy is also available now for streaming. Leading up to the album's release, three more singles can be expected on May 17 (Interlude III: Breaking Point and Oblivion) and May 24 (Interlude III: Aftermath feat. D Smoke and SUUVI).

The week after the album's release, Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 5:00pm, Carnegie Hall Citywide presents Natalie Tenenbaum in a free solo performance featuring works from the album in New York City's Times Square. Recent live performances of Standard Repertoire, Vol. 1 include appearances at the 2024 SXSW Festival in Austin, TX; at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC; and with the United Nations Women in Music Concert in March 2024. In May 2024, Tenenbaum will take the program internationally to the Enea Music Festival in Poland and Musikverein Wien in Vienna, with a return to Vienna's Goldener Saal in December 2024.

A post-classical portrait album celebrating the overlap of traditional classical repertoire, electronic sound design and original composition, Standard Repertoire, Vol. 1 is inspired by Tenenbaum's work alongside David Byrne on his Broadway show American Utopia in 2022. A frequent collaborator with artists ranging from Lang Lang to Pentatonix, Lea Michele, and Tori Kelly, as well as on Broadway, she co-produced the album alongside Abe Nouri, with whom she worked on American Utopia.

Tenenbaum shares, "My initial idea was to take some of the repertoire I had been regularly performing since my days as a classical piano performance graduate of Juilliard and to infuse it with original composition, sound design and production. Once I sketched out Bach's Chromatic Fantasy in D minor, BWV 903; Liszt's La campanella; and the second movement of Stravinsky's Petrouchka, I started realizing the full structure of the album, which would contain additional standard repertoire (hence the title) linked together with original 'Interludes' and 'Postludes' as connective tissue."

She continues, "This project is very personal as it brings together classical works that are a part of my music DNA alongside electronic sound design, which has been integral to my composition and artistic process in the last few years. Inspired by so many great artists, I seek to continue to liberate ourselves from genre and break the barriers that marginalize who we are and the art we create."

More About Natalie Tenenbaum

Based in New York and trained at The Juilliard School, Natalie Tenenbaum has appeared with orchestras in Israel, Europe, Asia and the U.S., premiering her own compositions and real-time composition/improvisations in concert in venues such as The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, The Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, The National Arts Gallery (NY), Harvard University, Austin's SXSW, Jerusalem Music Center, Berlin's Konzerthaus, Korea's National Theater, and the Monk to Bach jazz club in Seoul, among many others.

IIn 2022, Tenenbaum created arrangements and orchestrations for Lang Lang's most recent album release with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Universal Media Group/Deutsche Grammophon/Disney) and composed an original work for Lang Lang and Pentatonix. Other collaborations include duos with Eitan Kenner and Julian "J3PO" Pollack; plus music direction for Titus Burgess, Lea Michele, The 8-Bit Big Band and Tori Kelly (for the 2020 Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center) along with many others. She has been featured in NBC's Maya & Marty as associate Music Director, performing with guests such as Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Emma Stone, Kenan Thompson, and Nick Jonas.

Active in the new music scene, Tenenbaum has performed as a soloist and collaborator with various musicians and ensembles, including Jason Eckardt and AUDITIVOKKAL DRESDEN. She premiered her piece for two pianos, Ra'ash, with fellow pianist and composer Julian Pollack in NYC and at the Mendocino Music Festival. She has also recorded arrangements and original music for the Steinway Spirio R piano catalog.

On Broadway, Tenenbaum has created arrangements for Tina Fey's musical, Mean Girls, and worked with David Byrne on American Utopia (2021-2022). She co-wrote the scores for theatrical pieces Juliet & Juliet (York Theater, NY) and Little Black Dress (US & Canada Tour, 2018-2020) as well as writing and performing the original score for John Guare's play, More Stars Than There Are In Heaven (2016) at the Tennessee Williams festival in Provincetown, MA. Her score for the staged adaptation of Benjamin Button (in collaboration with librettist and lyricist Brett Boles) was performed in 2013 as part of the Fundamental Theater Project and workshopped in London in 2019 at the Southwark Playhouse.

Tenenbaum was honored with both the Harrington Award and the Jean Banks Award from BMI. In 2014, she was awarded membership to the BMI Lehman­-Engle Advanced Workshop. Her catalog of works is represented through ASCAP.

Natalie Tenenbaum is a Nord Artist and a Yamaha Artist, and has also created music internationally licensed for use by Walmart.

About Platoon

Founded by C.E.O. Denzyl Feigelson in 2016, boutique artist services company Platoon identifies and shepherds exciting musical talent from around the world while arming them with innovative tools and services to build careers and reach new fans. Platoon landed its first success in 2016 when they signed yet-unknown Billie Eilish, helping lay out the groundwork for her ascent to global stardom. Following that it was BRIT Award winner Jorja Smith's Blue Lights, before guiding Nigeria's Mr. Eazi to worldwide attention and acclaim. Platoon has since built an impressive roster of fiercely independent creative artists such as Johannes Moser, Xuefei Yang, Oliver Zeffman, Rosey Chan, and Daniel Pioro. Platoon's team of employees has expanded across the globe, from London to New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, and Cape Town's "Creative Lab." Platoon's creative spaces in London and Africa boast state-of-the-art recording studios and double as inspiring ecosystems for artists to openly collaborate, with Platoon also offering educational classes across music and marketing. Learn more at www.platoon.ai.

Standard Repertoire Vol. 1 Tracklist

1. Natalie Tenenbaum - Prologue [0:56]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

2. Natalie Tenenbaum - Interludes: I. No One Knows [1:25]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

3. J.S. Bach (arr. Tenenbaum) - Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue in D minor, BW903: I. Fantasia, Recitativo [7:53]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

4. Stravinsky (arr. Tenenbaum/Nouri) - Petrouchka: 3 Movements for Piano, Scene 1: IV. Russian Dance [2:53]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano vocals, and synth; Bryan Carter, drums

5. Natalie Tenenbaum - Interlude: II. Take Me There [1:35]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

6. Natalie Tenenbaum - Images, Book 1: Reflets Dans l'eau [5:10]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano

7. Liszt (arr. Tenenbaum) - La campanella in G# minor (From "Grandes études de Paganini", S. 141/3) [4:27]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano

8. Natalie Tenenbaum - Interlude III: Breaking Point [0:59]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

9. Piazzolla (arr. Tenenbaum) - Oblivion [3:42]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth; SUUVI, cello

10. Natalie Tenenbaum - Interlude IV: Aftermath [2:16]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth; D Smoke, vocals; SUUVI, cello

11. Stravinsky (arr. Tenenbaum/Nouri) - Petrouchka: 3 Movements for Piano, Scene 2: Petrouchka's Room [4:07]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

12. Natalie Tenenbaum - Postlude I.: How Far? [2:08]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

13. Chopin (arr. Tenenbaum/Nouri) - Étude in C minor, Opus 10 No. 12, "Revolutionary" [2:18]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

14. Rimsky-Korsakov (arr. Cziffra, Tenenbaum, Nouri) - Encore I.: Flight Of The Bumblebee [2:51]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

15. Natalie Tenenbaum - Interlude IV: Audition [1:31]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

15. Tchaikovsky (arr. Tenenbaum) - Encores: II. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy [5:00]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth

16 Natalie Tenenbaum - Epilogue [2:35]
Natalie Tenenbaum, piano, vocals and synth