<div>It has been my lifelong goal, as a pianist to explore and promote the music of neglected composers or music by well known composers which has been overlooked or underestimated. I have found three works for piano and orchestra by American composers which fit this category and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to record these works in Vilnius, Lithuania with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra (Lietuvos nacionalinis simfoninis orkestras) in late March with conductor John McLaughlin Williams. Two of these works have never been recorded. These will be world premiere recordings. This is why I feel this project should appeal to all lovers of great piano music and piano concertos specifically. As a high schooler, I was obsessed with piano concertos and collected as many different works as I could on LPs. I wasn’t as interested in hearing the same pieces over and over by different pianists. I spent my time listening to as many works as I could, and was a regular listener of our local Cleveland radio station with that goal in mind.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Felix Borowski (1872-1956)
</div>
<div>Beryl Rubinstein (1898-1952)
</div>
<div>Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>These three composers share much in common. They served as the directors of prestigious Midwestern music conservatories, and were Jewish immigrants or second generation. Bloch was born in Switzerland and Beryl Rubinstein’s father emigrated from Lithuania. Both of them served on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music at the same time: Ernest Bloch was the director while Beryl Rubinstein was on the piano faculty. Rubinstein eventually assumed the role of director and remained so for 20 years, until his death.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Felix Borowski was born in England to a Polish father and English mother. He came to Chicago at the age of 24 and became head of the Chicago Musical College (as well as teaching violin). Later he assumed the role as professor at Northwestern University. He was central to the musical life of Chicago, and served as music critic and program annotator for the Chicago Symphony for 48 years.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Their musical styles differ greatly. Bloch is the most celebrated and familiar of the three and his music has a wide range of style characteristics. The <em>Scherzo</em> <em>fantasque</em> was composed in 1949, and premiered by the Chicago Symphony in 1950. It is highly likely Borowski was in attendance because he gave a lecture on Bloch’s music the next day. The piece is characterized by an acerbic drive which at times seems to be devilish, barbaric, if not satirically whimsical. A penchant for the augmented fourth interval creates a sinister backdrop. The central lyrical theme gives a sense of respite from the excitement of the outer sections.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Felix Borowski’s only <em>Piano Concerto in D minor</em> was also premiered by the Chicago Symphony but decades earlier in 1914. It appeared on a concert of all “new American music”. The work is highly romantic and would have sounded a bit outdated for its time. This may account for its neglect. Borowski also wrote three symphonies, and a few symphonic poems for orchestra. These have been preserved in manuscript and have yet to garner the attention of prominent conductors or orchestras. To the modern listener, the Concerto sounds a bit cinematic. In that regard, it actually can be considered ahead of its time. In places the clear influence of Tchaikovsky and Grieg is felt. The structure of the first movement owes much to Grieg, as does the straightforward simplicity of the material. Grieg knew of Borowski’s music and was said to be an ardent supporter. Tchaikovsky’s influence is most evident in the finale, particularly in the handling of the orchestral transitions. The lovely slow movement is a highlight of the piece and the sweeping lyrical melody is memorable and well written.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Beryl Rubinstein’s <em>Piano Concerto in C </em>(1934) presents the opposite approach of Borowski. Rather than look to the past, this work is very much a product of the present. The 1930s can be considered a Golden Age for piano concertos. The masterpieces of the decade include both Ravel Concertos, Bartók 2, the concertos by Khachaturian, Britten, Prokofiev 4 and 5, Poulenc Concerto for two pianos, Shostakovich 1 and Rachmaninoff’s <em>Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini</em>. With such masterpieces to compete with, is it any wonder Rubinstein’s Concerto fell between the cracks? In addition, he composed only two works for orchestra. This didn’t help his reputation to expand. However, this should in no way diminish the stature of the work. In fact the great Swiss pianist Rudolph Ganz went so far as to say: <em>“I consider Beryl Rubinstein’s Concerto to be the finest in that combination written by an American before Samuel Barber.</em>”
</div>
<div>This is high praise indeed and not hyperbole. The review of the composer’s own premiere performance with the Cleveland Orchestra was equally glowing in its praise. It is quite evident Rubinstein was very aware of the current trends of his time. One can hear deliberate references to Prokofiev, Bartók, Milhaud, Poulenc and his friend Gershwin, to name a few composers. Although Rubinstein was clearly a first class virtuoso pianist, his primary role was that of academician and his work as director of the Cleveland Institute no doubt exhausted most of his time. In fact, Bloch was dismissed from the same position due to his habit of being elsewhere to promote his music, rather than fulfilling his duties at the school.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is a self funded project. Hiring a professional orchestra is not inexpensive, although doing it in Eastern Europe is definitely more affordable. The additional costs include hiring the conductor, transportation for both of us from the US to Vilnius, hotel costs, and both the conductor and recording engineer are Grammy award winners!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I am in contact with Beryl Rubinstein’s daughter Ellie. She is 92 and lives in the UK. She was three years old when the Concerto was composed. Her picture with her dad is the first image in the video above. I’ve taken snippets of each movement to give you an idea of this worthwhile music. The Borowski and Rubinstein are my own live performances with Jason Klein conducting the Saratoga Symphony. Special thanks to them and to Bob Feigelson for bringing these fantastic pieces to my attention. Enjoy, and thanks again for your generosity in making this personal dream a reality.
</div>

NanHui Jo

Sharon Wilson

Deborah Sabiel

Anonymous

Deanna Aronoff

NANHUI Jo

Support World Premiere Piano Concerto Recordings

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Support World Premiere Piano Concerto Recordings

Still $2,313 to go. Help us build momentum.