Pianist Gregg Kallor Announces Upcoming Concerts

After successful performances in New Orleans and New York's Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, pianist/composer Gregg Kallor announces his upcoming engagements. Kallor will bring his unconventional blend of classical works, improvisation, and his own unique music to New Orleans, Chicago, Connecticut and Massachusetts in the summer of 2011. In addition, Kallor will record the follow-up to his acclaimed album Exhilaration - Dickinson and Yeats Songs, with a solo recording featuring his recently debuted composition, A Single Noon, as well as works by Bartók, Chick Corea, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky and Louise Talma.

Gregg Kallor's Upcoming 2011 Engagements:

Saturday and Sunday, May 7 and 8, 2011
Montclair, NJ
Peak Performances at Montclair State University
Kallor conducts the Fred Hersch Ensemble for the world premiere of Hersch's multimedia narrative, My Coma Dreams. This marks Kallor's conducting debut.

Sunday, May 17, 2011
New Orleans, LA
Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro
Kallor will perform two solo sets for his first performance at the renowned jazz club.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Brooklyn, NY
Barbès
The Upright Piano Brigade Series
Kallor will perform his original nine-movement suite for solo piano, A Single Noon (which he recently debuted at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall) on this new series of solo classical piano presented by Barbés and Concert Artists Guild. Kallor will also perform music by Bartók, Chick Corea, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Louise Talma, Henry Mancini, and Annie Clark (St. Vincent).

Friday, June 3, 2011
Chicago, IL
PianoForte Foundation Salon Series
Kallor's PianoForte Foundation Salon Series performance and interview will be broadcast live on the WFMT Radio Network.

Sunday, June 5, 2011
Chicago, IL
"Discover America VII" at the PianoForte Salon
The Chicago Ensemble will perform Kallor's Dickinson songs alongside new music by other American composers.

June 2011
New Recording
Kallor takes to the studio to record works he performed on his April 20, 2011 concert at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. The album, due in late fall 2011, will feature Kallor's original nine-movement suite for solo piano, A Single Noon (watch Kallor play "Espresso Nirvana," an excerpt from his new suite, A Single Noon: http://www.greggkallor.com/site/carnegie.php). Additionally, the album will feature works by Bartók, Chick Corea, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky Louise Talma, Henry Mancini, and Elliott Smith.

August 7-13, 2011
Hartford, CT
Benjamin Rauch Voice Studios Vocal Intensive Program - Summer 2011
Kallor will be the Composer-in-Residence and accompanist for the week-long professional training program. Each participant will study and perform Kallor's songs. In addition, he will give several masterclasses on the songs, and will accompany the singers in his music as well as standard repertoire. The masterclasses will culminate in a performance at the end of the week-long program.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Salzburg, Austria
Songs concert with Adriana Zabala
Details to be announced.

Saturday, September 17, 2011
Wenham, MA
Thompson Chamber Music Series at Gordon College with Adriana Zabala
Kallor is joined by mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala (who performs on the Exhilaration - Dickinson and Yeats Songs CD) for the opening concert of the Thompson Chamber Music Series. They will perform songs by Kallor, along with some classical songs by Brahms, Schumann, and Wolf, new songs by Brad Mehldau and Herschel Garfein, and jazz standards and pop songs with improvisation.

Sunday, October 30, 2011
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Performances
Kallor conducts the Fred Hersch ensemble for the San Francisco premiere of Hersch's multimedia narrative, My Coma Dreams.

About Gregg Kallor:

Gregg Kallor was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised in West Hartford, Connecticut. He began improvising at an early age, started classical piano lessons when he was six, and added jazz lessons at age eleven. In high school he performed in jazz ensembles and rock bands, appearing at The White House and touring Europe. Kallor studied with Kenny Barron at Rutgers University, and Fred Hersch at the New England Conservatory of Music; he graduated from Tufts University with a degree in American Studies. After moving to New York City, he continued piano study with Sophia Rosoff and composition with Herschel Garfein.

In March 2007, the Abby Whiteside Foundation presented Gregg Kallor's New York concert debut as pianist and composer in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. The performance featured the premiere of his Dickinson and Yeats song cycles (with mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala), and solo works by Ginastera, Scriabin, Bach and Rachmaninoff. Harris Goldsmith wrote: "It took but a few impeccably shaped phrases to make it plain that Kallor is a formidably well-trained technician and a master of stylish proportion as well... This superb recital debut truly established a new, important voice in our musical annals."

Gregg Kallor's next Carnegie Hall concert, once again presented by the Abby Whiteside Foundation, took place on April 20, 2011 in Weill Hall. It featured the world premiere of Kallor's new composition, A Single Noon - a nine-movement suite for solo piano that combines classical and jazz influences, and improvisation. Kallor also played music by Béla Bartók, Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Henry Mancini, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, and Louise Talma. On February 23, 2011, Kallor performed Louise Talma's Sonata No. 1 at a concert of music by Talma, Vivian Fine and Miriam Gideon, presented by the Abby Whiteside Foundation at Weill Recital Hall.

In May, 2011 Kallor will conduct the Fred Hersch Ensemble for the world premiere of Hersch's multimedia musical narrative, My Coma Dreams. Also in May, Kallor will give his first performance at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro in New Orleans (solo piano). Kallor's first solo concert in Chicago, at the PianoForte Foundation in June, will be broadcast live on WFMT. This summer, Kallor will be the Composer-in-Residence for the inaugural season of the Benjamin Rauch Voice Studios Vocal Intensive Program Summer 2011 in Hartford, CT.

In 2002 Gregg Kallor released his first recording, There's a Rhythm, with his jazz trio (bassist Chris Van Voorst Van Beest and drummer Kendrick Scott). Exhilaration, his second album, features his acclaimed song settings of poems by William Butler Yeats, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti and Herschel Garfein sung by mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala. Kallor's next album - his first solo piano recording - will feature A Single Noon, and a mix of classical and jazz pieces. It is scheduled for release in late 2011.

More information is available on Mr. Kallor's website: www.GreggKallor.com.

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