The celebration of American independence meets the centennial of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, as pianist Jeffrey Biegel performs Peter Boyer’s Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue. The Michigan Phil is proud to be a part of Biegel’s five-year, 50-state project, in a triumphant performance of his companion piece, commissioned from Peter Boyer, to Gershwin’s seminal work.
Nan Washburn, conductor
Jeffrey Biegel, piano
Peter Boyer, composer
- Outdoor Overture (1938) — Aaron Copland
- Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue (2023) — Peter Boyer
Jeffrey Biegel, Piano - Concert Overture No. 1 (1937) — Florence Price
- Rhapsody in Blue (1924) — George Gershwin
About Jeffrey Biegel: In an age when many artists’ fortunes begin with a meteoric ascent and quickly cool with the inexorable free-fall, pianist Jeffrey Biegel has managed to buck that trend, fashioning a career of steady success studded with concerts at major venues with major orchestras, a Grammy-winning recording, and more than 30 commissioned works by living composers. His life takes its roots from age three, barely able to hear nor speak, until corrected by surgery. The ‘reverse Beethoven’ phenomenon explains his lifelong commitment to music, having heard only vibrations in his formative years. 2025 brings the World Premiere of three new works for piano and orchestra: Adolphus Hailstork’s “Concerto No. 3” with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Melissa Manchester’s “AWAKE!” for Piano and Orchestra with the Endless Mountain Music Festival, and, James Lee III’s “Concerto in A” with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. The 2024 recording of Jake Runestad’s “Dreams of the Fallen” with True Concord Voices and Orchestra garnered a Best Choral Performance Grammy nomination, on the Reference Recordings label. June 2023-August 2027 features the Rhapsody National Initiative – the first 50-state project for a new work for soloist and orchestra, also the first 50-state project for a new work without composer fees required from orchestras. Peter Boyer’s “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue” has embraced the nation and boasts a recording with the London Symphony Orchestra on the Naxos label.
About Peter Boyer: Grammy-nominated Peter Boyer is one of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers of his generation. His works have received over 900 public performances by more than 300 orchestras, and tens of thousands of broadcasts by classical radio stations around the United States and abroad. He has conducted recordings of his music with three of the world’s finest orchestras: the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.