Electronic Press Kit

P I A N I S T CAROLYN@CAROLYNENGER.COM

(201) 421-5114

GENERAL MANAGEMENT: CARRIE FREY CARRIE@CAROLYNENGER.COM

REPRESENTATIVE, GERMANY: JENNY LE JENNY@CAROLYNENGER.COM

Pianist Carolyn Enger has gained critical acclaim for her lyrical and dynamic playing, as well as her deeply felt interpretations of works from the 18th century to the present. In addition to an active performance schedule on two continents, Ms. Enger has enjoyed remarkable success as a recording artist: The New York Times selected her Naxos recording of intimate Ned Rorem miniatures, Piano Album I & Six Friends, as one of the newspaper’s “Best In Classical Recordings” for that year, writing “Among the 90th-birthday tributes this year to the essential American composer Ned Rorem, this recording especially stands out,” while Gramophone declared, “Enger raises the miniatures to a higher level.”

Ms. Enger’s touring schedule has brought her to venues throughout the United States and beyond, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, The National Gallery of Art in D.C., Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Nantucket Musical Arts Society, The Kosciuszko Foundation, and the National Gallery in Oslo. Deepening her commitment to multimedia collaborations, Ms. Enger was part of renowned illustrator and writer Maira Kalman’s exhibit Maira Kalman Selects at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, and her recording of Arvo Pärt’s music was featured in conceptual artist Mischa Kuball’s sound and light exhibit res.o.nant at the Jewish Museum Berlin. Recent and upcoming highlights include concerts at the White Stork Synagogue in Wrocław; the German Consulate General in New York; the Bach-Festival in Arnstadt; the Portuguese Synagogue’s Candlelight Concert series in Amsterdam; concerts at Michaeliskirche in Erfurt, Germany; Nikolaisaal Potsdam; KunstForum Gotha; Steinway galleries throughout North America; and a number of recitals in the greater New York area, including a celebration of the work of Ned Rorem at Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium.

Ms. Enger is dedicated to bringing music to varied audiences in accessible civic spaces. One of her performances at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is featured in Frederick Wiseman’s acclaimed documentary Ex Libris, which received its PBS premiere in Fall 2018. Also in Fall 2018, her residence with Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA), a social justice and cultural initiative, allowed her to share the Mischlinge Exposé’s message of tolerance and remembrance with the curious students of Texas public schools. One community leader shared that Carolyn’s performance left audiences “in complete awe of her passion, skill and genuine warmth.”

Ms. Enger studied at the Manhattan School of Music and enjoys yoga, swimming, and walks in the woods. She is a Steinway Artist.

______________________________________________________

Solo Recitals

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library The National Gallery, Oslo Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts The Kosciuszko Foundation The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine Tenri Cultural Institute Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio University of Chicago, Fulton Recital Hall University of Arizona, Fred Fox School of Music Spectrum, NYC Felicja Blumental Music Centre,Tel-Aviv Puffin Cultural Forum Nantucket Musical Arts Society The Nicholas Roerich Museum Chelmsford Center for the Arts Highfield Hall, Massachusetts Michaelis Kirche, Erfurt, Germany

Recordings

Ned Rorem: A Piano Album Naxos Records, American Classics 2013 Named one of the Best in Classical Recordings by The New York Times

In Evening Air – The Art of the Bagatelle 2009 Music of Beethoven, Scriabin, Hanson, Copland, Rorem and Liebermann

EducationManhattan School of Music Graduate Studies Molloy College - Bachelor of Arts

Solo Programs____________________________________________________________

Resonating Earth In collaboration with Peabody Award winning broadcaster, producer, and director Elliott Forrest

(WQXR), and internationally-exhibited photographer and environmental activist J Henry Fair, this cinematic experience transports listeners to a still, meditative space. It invites introspection

about our place on the planet, inspiring action to protect our beautiful, fragile world. Listen here: bit.ly/resonatingearthplaylist

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) – Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846Philip Glass (b. 1937) – Etudes for Piano, Book 1: No. 5 & No. 2

John Luther Adams (b. 1953) – Nunataks (Solitary Peaks)Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) – Prelude: La Colombe

Wolfgang Rihm (b. 1952) – Auf einem anderen BlattPia Møller Johansen (b. 1988) – Les feuilles blancs

Erik Satie (1866–1925) – Trois GymnopédiesCaroline Shaw (b. 1982) – Gustave Le Gray

John Cage (1912–1992) – Dream; In a LandscapeArvo Pärt (b. 1952) – Für Alina; Für Anna Maria

Variationen zur Gesundung von ArinuschkaClaude Debussy (1862–1918) – Rêverie

The Mischlinge ExposéFocusing on the era of World War II, this multimedia program

combines music, literature, and images that evoke the haunting memories of the Mischlinge – half-Jews and German-Jewish

converts in Germany – events reflected in Ms. Enger’s own experience as the child of a Holocaust survivor.

Listen here: bit.ly/mischlingexposefullplaylist

Daniel Asia (b. 1953) – Why (?) JacobPaul Ben-Haim (1897–1984) – Five Pieces for Piano, Op. 34

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) – Three Songs Without WordsGustav Mahler (1860–1911) – Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) – Sechs Kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19Hanns Eisler (1898–1962) – Sonatine, Op. 44 "Gradus ad Parnassum"

Alexander Zemlinsky (1871–1942) – Albumblatt "Erinnerungen aus Wien"Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805–1847) – O Traum der Jugend, O Goldener Stern

______________________________________________________________

Sample Programs, continued

Celebrating Women ComposersListen here: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel / Caroline Shaw

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805–1847) – O Traum der Jugend, O Goldener Stern

Andante cantabile in D-Flat MajorCaroline Shaw (b. 1982) – Gustave Le Gray

Pia Møller Johansen (b. 1988) – Les feuilles blancsGalina Ustvolskaya (1919–2006) – 12 Preludes for Piano (1953)

Meredith Monk (b. 1952) – Ellis IslandMissy Mazzoli (b. 1980) – Orrizonte (2004)

Clara Schumann (1819–1896) – Präludium II, Op. 16 Drei Romanzen, Op. 11, No. 3

Freiheit und Bruderschaft – Freedom and BrotherhoodListen here: Beethoven Bagatelle No. 3

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) – Bagatelles, Op. 126Franz Schubert (1797–1828) – Six Moments Musicaux, D. 780

Wolfgang Rihm (b. 1952) – LändlerLudwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) – Piano Sonata No. 31 in A Major, Op. 110

Lyricism Then and NowListen here: Lyricism Then & Now playlist

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805–1847) – O Traum der Jugend, O Goldener SternAaron Copland (1900–1990) – Our Town: three piano excerpts from the film score

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) – Impromptu in A-Flat Major, Op. 142, No. 2 Franz Schubert (1797–1828) – Drei Klavierstücke, D.946 Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) – Selected Anniversaries

Ned Rorem (b. 1923) – Selections from Piano Album ICaroline Shaw (b. 1982) – Gustave Le Gray

Lecturing and performing The Mischlinge Exposé at the University of Arizona. This multimedia program combines music, literature, and images that evoke the haunting memories of the Mischlinge.

Performing American Miniatures, a program featuring personal works by Ned Rorem and Leonard Bernstein at the New York Public Library’s Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center.

Performing Resonating Earth, a nature-centered program that transports listeners to a still, meditative space, at Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art.

___________________________________________________________

“Among the 90th Birthday tributes this year to the essential American composer Ned Rorem, this recording especially stands out. The fine pianist Carolyn Enger plays

Mr. Rorem’s complete Piano Album l, a collection of tender yet pungent miniatures written for friends, intimates and personal occasions from 1978-2001.”

Anthony Tommasini, Chief Music Critic of The New York Times

“Thank you for the wonderful performance of my music.” Ned Rorem, Composer

“She displays lovely control of these delicate sonorities, with careful attention to balance and registration. Her touch is gentle but penetrating, reaching down into the sound, and her rhythmic sense is spot on for this delicate music, as she is often behind the beat- a little lazy and droll, with rubato just right. This music doesn’t tell how virtuosic she is, as it rarely requires that kind of kinetic demonstration, but it does show that she has a huge heart and exquisite taste.” Daniel Asia, The Huffington Post

“She is a musician of rare quality, whose pianistic sensitivity is at once in evidence.” Avron Coleman, Cellist, NY Philharmonic “Lavishing tone and sensitive, nuanced, thoughtful unhurried timeless playing.” Robert Schulslaper, Fanfare Magazine Review of “In Evening Air”

“Some discs are just needed… expressively played set of piano miniatures… from the first note it creates an intimate evening mood… her playing is thoughtful and sensitive… expressive, yet without external pressure: the expressivity comes from the music itself; the pianist only opens the doors to let it out… She plays with fine nuance and tone-shading… World Premiere recording of the Rorem set and the presentation is faultless… Enger’s playing reminded me of Mitsuko

Uchida… it applies that same level of concentrated attention to each single note and demonstrates admiration for each precious sound, unhurried, timeless… This disc has

already magically transformed my evenings… Absolute pleasure. Oleg Ledienov, Music Web International review of “In Evening Air”

“Impeccable sense of timing...Clear tone and graceful naivety...Enger can be commended for her taste in music...There is much novelty to delight in... “

American Record Guide review of “In Evening Air”