Eliot
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Eliot
Fisk
A born risk-taker and a charismatic virtuoso, Eliot Fisk has brought an entirely new dimension to classical guitar performance. He is known worldwide for his imaginative and innovative approach and for expanding the scope of the classical guitar legacy that he inherited from his mentor, Andres Segovia. Through numerous works written for him by leading composers and through constant experimentation with new possibilities, Eliot Fisk has created a fresh and exciting modern style all his own. At the same time, as reflected in his many transcriptions of the great composers of the past (Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Granados, Albéniz, etc.) he continues to indulge a lifelong love affair with the great tradition of Western art music. In 1996, at the special invitation of the King, Queen and Crown Prince of Spain, Mr. Fisk performed at a private reception for President Clinton and his family at the Palacio de los Cordova in Granada.
Eliot Fisk's many repeat performances in major halls throughout the world are
complemented by numerous concerto appearances with orchestras and performances
in a wide variety of chamber music combinations. In addition to his longtime
duo partner, flutist Paula Robison, he frequently performs with flamenco guitarist
Paco Peña, vocalist Ute Lemper, Turkish music specialist Burhan Öçal
and with many prominent string quartets. Previous chamber music colleagues have
included soprano Victoria de los Angeles, late jazz guitarist Joe Pass, violinists
Gidon Kremer and Ruggiero Ricci, the Juilliard String Quartet and double bassist
Gary Karr.
A prolific recording artist, Eliot Fisk has recently released a landmark version
of his transcription of the sonatas and partitas for solo violin, BWV 1001-1006,
of J.S. Bach. This complements an earlier CD that featured the six organ trio
sonatas of Bach, BWV 525-530, in a version for guitar and harpsichord with Albert
Fuller (Musical Heritage Society), and a recently recorded new transcription
of the six sonatas BWV 1014-1019 (with violinist Benjamin Hudson and cellist
Juri Bednar). Another recently released CD (for Arabesque) features an all-Rochberg
program of works dedicated to Mr. Fisk, for which he is joined by the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center and Paula Robison. Two more CDs are forthcoming:
one for Musical Heritage Society featuring music of Castelnuovo-Tedesco and
another for VGO Recordings of 18 sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti transcribed for
guitar by Mr. Fisk.
Eliot Fisk continues to seek out contemporary composers to expand the repertoire
of the guitar. Among the works dedicated to Eliot Fisk are Luciano Berio's "Sequenza
XI," for solo guitar, premiered by Mr. Fisk in 1988, and "Chemin V,"
for guitar and orchestra, premiered in September 1992 by Mr. Fisk and the Orchester
der Beethovenhalle in Bonn led by the composer. Other major works written for
Mr. Fisk include George Rochberg's "Muse of Fire," commissioned by
Carnegie Hall and performed by Mr. Fisk and Paula Robison during the hall's
centennial season in 1991, and "Eden out of Time and out of Space,"
for guitar and chamber ensemble, commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of
Lincoln Center and premiered at Chamber Music Northwest in 1998. Mr. Fisk has
also long been associated with Robert Beaser, whose "Mountain Songs,"
composed for the Fisk-Robison Duo and since performed throughout the world,
was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1987. Beaser is currently at work on a guitar
concerto, which Mr. Fisk will premiere during the 2003-04 season in Linz, Austria,
under the baton of Dennis Russell Davies.
In 1985, at the express recommendation of Andrés Segovia, Eliot Fisk
collaborated with Ernesto Halffter to revive that eminent Spanish composer's
"Concierto" for guitar and orchestra for a performance with the Spanish
National Orchestra under Victor Pablo in Madrid. A similar collaboration with
Leonardo Balada culminated in 2001 with the recording (for Naxos) of Balada's
"Concierto Magico" with Jose Serebrier and the Barcelona Symphony,
a disc that was nominated by Amazon.com as one of the ten best classical recordings
of the year.
In 1996 Emilia Segovia granted Eliot Fisk exclusive first performance and recording
rights to a number of recently discovered compositions of the Maestro. Mr. Fisk's
recording of these and other works on MusicMasters Records, "Segovia -
Canciones Populares," entered the Billboard chart of classical best sellers.
Mr. Fisk's numerous other recordings have also received exceptional acclaim.
His landmark release of Paganini's 24 Caprices, in his own transcription for
guitar, immediately entered the Billboard classical charts and elicited astonished
acclaim from colleagues and critics the world over. His transcription and recording
of George Rochberg's "Caprice Variations" on MusicMasters (51 variations
on the 24th Caprice of Paganini) also generated rave reviews and the glowing
endorsement of the composer. A similar collaboration enabled Mr. Fisk to premiere
Spanish composer Cristobal Halffter's solo violin sonata in a creative reworking
for guitar at the prestigious Wien Modern Festival in 1998.
In addition to his performing career, Eliot Fisk has a deep commitment to teaching.
His class at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria includes students from a dozen
different countries, many of them top prize winners in international competitions.
In 1996 Mr. Fisk also joined the faculty of the New England Conservatory of
Music in Boston, where he hopes to make his lifelong interest in musical outreach
programs in schools, churches, prisons, senior citizens centers and even logging
camps an integral part of NEC's activities. In the 2002-03 season he will again
participate in the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Series, playing a set of free
informal concerts in various boroughs of New York City.
A native of Philadelphia, Eliot Fisk earned his B.A. (summa cum laude) and M.M.
degrees from Yale University, where he studied with harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick.
Immediately after graduation he was asked to found the guitar department at
the Yale School of Music. In 1974 he was introduced to his idol, Andrés
Segovia, who coached him privately for several years. In 1981 Segovia wrote:
"I consider Eliot Fisk as one of the most brilliant, intelligent and gifted
young artists of our time, not only among guitarists but in all the general
field of instrumentalists. His clear and flexible technique, his noble style
of interpreting the beauty of classic compositions as well as the colorful music
of today, put him at the top line of our artistic world."
Eliot Fisk lives in Boston, Salzburg and (occasionally) Granada with his wife,
Zaira, and their 1-year-old daughter, Raquel.
Further information on Eliot Fisk is available at www.eliotfisk.com