Album Notes

MATT HERSKOWITZ - PIANIST



Born in New York City, Matt Herskowitz has lived in Montréal for the last six years. His impressive résumé attests to his versatility. He’s a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and The Juilliard School of Music in New York. He’s won many international Prizes, such as the Pro Piano Recital Series Competition, which allowed him to give his New York debut in 1994 in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He is also the winner of first prizes at the 1997 Orford Festival International Piano Competitions. Matt's performances there led to a recording of Glazunov's “Piano Concerto no. 2” with I Musici de Montréal for CHANDOS Records.

A unique voice in the musical world, Matt is successfully pursuing three aspects of his artistic career: classical pianist, jazz pianist, and composer in both styles. In 1996 Matt premiered his Chorale and Variations on a Theme of Dave Brubeck with the Absolute Ensemble in New York City. He delivered the Canadian premiere in 1998 with the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, broadcast by the Radio-Canada network. Since then, Matt has toured internationally with the Absolute Ensemble as a guest soloist.

Matt Herskowitz collaborates as performer and composer with numerous artists, among them the pop singer Lara Fabian. He composed with her the hit song “Inévitablement”, among others, and he composed and performed the solo piano piece “Piano nocturne” on her recent CD « Nue ». Matt also works with La Baronne (now better known under her real name, COBO), a French singer and percussionist, with whom he has toured nationally and internationally on numerous occasions. He is currently in studio recording their 1st album for the Disques Tempête label (Canada), to be released this fall. In 2002, Matt composed the music for a silent 1930’s avant-garde French film: Jeux des Reflets et de la Vitesse, seen at the Walter Reade Theater in New York’s Lincoln Center and performed by the Parabola Ensemble. He also arranged and performed the short piece “Bach à la jazz” for the now famous film Les Triplettes de Belleville, presented in Cannes in 2003. Moreover, Matt recently recorded a long solo improvisation for the film La Face Cachée de la Lune (The Dark Side of the Moon), directed by Robert Lepage.

American jazz pianist and author Andy Laverne describes Matt Herskowitz as "...one of the rare pianists able to bridge the gap between classical and jazz piano styles... as well as a composer equally facile in both idioms.”

And the world famous Dave Brubeck writes “This CD (Gabriel's Message) is technically flawless... light years advanced harmonically... (Matt) is a giant!”