BIOGRAPHY
JOHN SICHEL www.sichelmusic.com
John Sichel’s String Quartet #4 was premiered by the Amphion String Quartet in October, 2011. His Songs of a Mannequin, for solo guitar, was premiered by Guitarist Christopher Kenniff in May, 2011. His Sonata for Solo Violin, was premiered in Mendoza, Argentina in April, 2010 by Vladimir Tsypin of the New York Philharmonic and his Two Suburban Madrigals were premiered the following month by the Madrigal Singers in Montclair, New Jersey. Dr. Sichel’s String Quartet #3 received its premiere on January 28, 2007 at an ‘Artistic Club Luba’ concert in Englewood, New Jersey. New York Philharmonic musicians Vladimir Tsypin, Lisa G. Kim (violins), Kathy Greene (viola) and Sumire Kudo (cello) were the featured performers. The first performance of Dr. Sichel’s Piano Trio occurred on April 30, 2006, on a New York Philharmonic Ensembles chamber music program at Merkin Hall, with Lisa G. Kim, Eric Bartlett and Susan Walters performing.
Francesca Da Bimini, commissioned by the National Symphony, was premiered by that orchestra in December of 2003, with Leonard Slatkin conducting. Pianist Lenore Fishman Davis gave the first performance of Mr. Sichel’s Concerto Mystico II in March of 2003, with the New Philharmonic of New Jersey, Leon Hyman conducting. Other recent works were written for and performed by The New Jersey Youth Symphony, The New Jersey Music Teachers Association, Duo Fresco (Christopher Kenniff, guitar and Brett Deubner, viola) and the Toy Piano collection of the University of California at San Diego.
In 2008 Vladimir Tsypin and pianist Patricia Vila recorded Eight Miniatures for Violin and Piano. The recording is awaiting release on the Tradition label. A compact disc of Dr. Sichel’s solo works and duets was released in 2002 on the Musician’s Showcase label (MS 1071, entitled “Oiseaux Ordinaires”). Two of his Five Chamber Marches were included on the album “Frantic Antics” by the wind band Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (Newport Classics NPD 85644) and his Three Places in New Jersey was recorded by the Slovak Radio Orchestra, Joel Suben conducting, for Opus One Records (CD #170). His orchestrations of music by the 20th Century composer Anthony Scarmolin have been recorded for the Naxos and Centaur labels. His music is published by Puna Music and Ludwig Music, as well as his under his own imprimatur, Great Horned Music.
Dr. Sichel studied at the Yale School of Music, where his teachers included Jacob Druckman, Nicholas Maw and Martin Bresnick, and from which he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1990. He is a member of the full-time music faculty at Raritan Valley Community College, where he is conductor of the college Chorale, and also teaches theory, composition, piano, music history and rock-and-roll history at the college. He is also music director of the Madrigal Singers, a Renaissance vocal ensemble based in Cranford, New Jersey. A lifelong resident of the Garden State, he currently lives in Union County with his wife and two sons. His hobbies include birding and astronomy and he has self-published science fiction under the pen name of F.L. Green.
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