Adams & Gershwin: Works for Piano & Wind Band Cincinnati Wind Symphony & Kevin Michael Holzman

• George Gershwin (1898 - 1937):
• 1 Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Arr. D. Hunsberger for Piano & Wind Band) 18:31
• 2 Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F Major (Arr. S. Bulla for Piano & Wind Band): I. Allegro 13:49
• 3 Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F Major (Arr. S. Bulla for Piano & Wind Band): II. Adagio - Andante con moto 12:20
• 4 Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F Major (Arr. S. Bulla for Piano & Wind Band): III. Allegro agitato 07:19
• John Adams (b. 1947):
• 5 Adams: Grand Pianola Music, Pt. 1 23:34
• 6 Adams: Grand Pianola Music, Pt. 2 "On the Dominant Divide" 08:02
• Total Runtime 01:23:35

Info for Adams & Gershwin: Works for Piano & Wind Band

The UC College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Wind Symphony releases a new recording, "Grand Pianola Music", featuring works by George Gershwin and John Adams, the recording showcases faculty artist Michael Chertock, student artist Giuliano Graniti and alumni artist Fabio Menchetti (DMA Piano, '19).

Conducted by CCM Director of Wind Studies and Division Head of Ensembles and Conducting, Kevin Michael Holzman, the CCM Wind Symphony performs Adams' Grand Pianola Music and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Piano Concerto in F Major.

Planning for the recording started in 2018, when Holzman performed Rhapsody in Blue with the CCM Wind Ensemble and CCM Piano Department Chair and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra pianist Michael Chertock. The pianist mentioned how he has performed the work hundreds of times, but never recorded it.

"I instantly knew we would base our album around that work," Holzman says. "The challenge then was … if Rhapsody in Blue is the central (and most popular) work, what other pieces would go well with it? I decided to do an All-American, all-piano album for a sense of cohesiveness and to showcase both our fantastic winds and pianists at CCM."

The performance was recorded over the course of three days in CCM's Corbett Auditorium in October 2019. Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of Wind Studies Thomas Gamboa was the recording producer and Joel Crawford was the recording engineer.

"For most of our students, this was their first experience recording for an album, which is different from anything else we do," Gamboa says. "The pressures of recording are immense, and what really stood out to me was how quickly the students adapted to the process, and the high level of focus and professionalism they brought to every moment."

Gamboa worked with a team of conducting graduate assistants to help provide immediate feedback to the ensemble in the recording process. After the recording process was done they combed through over 180 different takes of the works to find the best ones to include in the final product.

"While listening, I hope that listeners are able to experience the joy that each soloist and the ensemble brought to each of these works. The entire album is full of life and excitement, and I hope that is palpable to the listeners." (Kevin Michael Holzman)

Michael Chertock, piano
Giuliano Graniti, piano
Fabio Menchetti, piano
Cincinnati Wind Symphony
Kevin Michael Holzman, conductor

Kevin Michael Holzman
serves as the Director of Wind Studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Holzman joined CCM’s faculty on a visiting basis in 2017 as the Assistant Director of Wind Studies, and assumed the Director of Wind Studies position in August 2018. As Director of Wind Studies, Holzman serves as the music director for the CCM Wind Symphony (CCM’s premier large wind ensemble), the CCM Chamber Orchestra, the CCM Chamber Winds, and the CCM Bras Choir. His academic responsibilities include teaching graduate conducting, survey of wind literature and related courses as well as the advising and mentoring of wind conducting students in CCM’s MM and DMA programs.

Prior to his appointment as Visiting Assistant Director of Wind Studies at CCM, Holzman earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Music Director of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, Mark Scatterday, DMA. As the Frederick Fennell Conducting Fellow and 2016 recipient of the prestigious Walter Hagen Prize for Excellence in Conducting, Holzman served as Associate Conductor of the world-renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble and Eastman Wind Orchestra. He regularly appeared as a conductor for OSSIA New Music, including multiple world-premiere performances. He also studied extensively with Neil Varon, Director of Eastman Orchestras.

In summer 2016, Holzman was invited to serve as an associate conductor on the Eastman Wind Ensemble’s first tour in Europe, where he conducted the Eastman Harmonie in Salzburg, Vienna and Prague. He also collaborated with prominent composers David Maslanka and Bert Appermont for the “Celebration of the Symphony” concert with the Eastman Wind Ensemble. The performance was Eastman’s first live-streamed large ensemble concert, which included the North American premiere of Appermont’s Symphony No. 2 The Golden Age. Holzman also served as an Assistant Producer for the Eastman Wind Ensemble’s recent release Sierra Live and upcoming album featuring the music of Jeff Tyzik.

Beyond Eastman, Holzman has worked with professional ensembles including the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. In April 2017, he was appointed conductor of the Music in the American Wild ensemble, a National Endowment for the Arts grant-funded ensemble that commissioned 11 new works in celebration of the 2016 U.S. National Parks Centennial. Holzman recently completed a studio-recording project of commissioned compositions, set for release by ArtistShare NYC in fall 2018. In 2016 Holzman formed and began serving as Music Director of the Upstate Brass Band, an exciting brass ensemble that performs in upstate New York, and was commissioned to record a series of new brass band arrangements by renowned composer/trombonist Bill Reichenbach.

Holzman became the founding Music Director and conductor of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Wind Ensemble in fall 2016. He successfully recruited and led the ensemble’s inaugural year, and it is now the college’s largest instrumental ensemble. After earning his MM in conducting at the University of Arizona (UA), Holzman had the opportunity to teach and conduct as Interim Principal Conductor for the Wind Symphony at UA’s Fred Fox School of Music during the director’s extended absence from 2012 to 2014. He also served as the Director and Coordinator of the UA Symphonic Band and High School Honor Band during his tenure. ...

This album contains no booklet.