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His debut recording, a CRI LP, was called "one of the great piano discs of the decade" (Peter G. Davis, New York Magazine) and established his reputation as one of the most exciting interpreters of the modern repertoire. His CD, "Stefan Wolpe: Compositions for Piano" on the Bridge label received wide acclaim and won Holzman a Grammy nomination as well as an Indie Award and an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for his liner notes. Among several glowing reviews, Christopher Ballanrinp of International Record Review praised the "revelatory insight and passionate conviction" of Holzman's interpretations and Matthias Kriesberg in The New York Times lauded the "introspective virtuosity" of his pianism. His most recent CD featuring music of Roger Sessions and Ralph Shapey, also on the Bridge label, has received an equally enthusiastic response. Robert Carl (Fanfare Magazine) wrote: "This disc is one that elicits the 'Wow' response. There are passages where the dense contrapuntal textures are so well differentiated that one might assume this was four-hand music (as an example, the fiery, overflowing explosion of Mutations II has to be heard to be believed)." American Record Guide Magazine put it simply: "It left me breathless." Performing throughout the world, Mr. Holzman has given lecture-recitals at the Museum of the Diaspora in Jerusalem, the Holocaust Museum in Washington and the African Museum in New Jersey, as well as distinguished Universities throughout America. He has often been featured at festivals such as Darmstadt, Leningrad Spring, the Wolpe Festivals in Toronto, Chicago and New York, the Schoenberg Festival in Vienna, the Alternativa Festival in Moscow and the Festival Internacional De Musica Nueva Siglo XXI in Vera Cruz, Mexico. His performance of the music of Pultizer Prize-winning composer Donald Martino was chosen by the New York Times as one of the highlights of the 1991 season. More recently he performed in the Black Mountain Festival in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Goethe House in New York and Bargemusic in New York. Of this last recital, Steve Smith (The New York Times) wrote: "His account of Elliott Carter's Sonata was not spotless. But a few missed notes during the work's most agitated passages were a small price to pay for playing so full of blood, steel, and unshakable conviction". David Holzman’s repertoire has broadened as he plays for more diverse audiences. He performs weekly on the Louis Armstrong Visiting Artist Series at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. Music ranges from Broadway transcriptions to folk music to the classics from Bach to Bartok. He will be playing jazz piano at a concert celebrating the Jack Kerouac centennial at the Maple Grove Center. He still performs the masterpieces of the past Century and the newest music. An active lecturer, Holzman has introduced general audiences to complex and foreign styles. Most recently, his lecture on Ralph Shapey's 21 Variations can be heard on the Art of the States Exploded View #2 (www.artofthestates.org). His writings, covering all areas of music, appear in such periodicals as Sonus, Contemporary Music Review, New Music Connossieur as well as Pendragon Press. Born in New York in 1949, Holzman received his BM magna cum laude from Mannes College of Music. He completed his studies with Nadia Reisenberg at Queens College. He was a finalist in the Carnegie Hall American Music Competition and the International Keyboard Competition of St. Germaine-en-Laye. David Holzman is currently Professor of Piano at the C.W.Post Campus of Long Island University. |
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