BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN (1685–1750)

Pianist, arranger and teacher Eleonor Bindman is known worldwide for ‘Bach playing of the highest order’ (Pianodao), and combines her passions of teaching and performing to bring new repertoire to light through her original transcriptions, scores and recordings. Pianist Magazine declared the 2018 recording of her piano four-hands arrangement of J.S. Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos ‘breathtaking in its sheer precision and vitality’. The success of this album led to Stepping Stones to Bach, a set of 48 easy/intermediate piano arrangements, followed by the unprecedented Cello Suites for Solo Piano (GP847⁠–⁠48) and, most recently, Bach’s complete keyboard Partitas (Delos). As Duo Vivace, she and Susan Sobolewski released Out of the Blue, featuring works by Holst, Bernstein and Gershwin. A native of Riga, Latvia, Bindman received a BA in music from NYU and completed her MA in piano pedagogy at SUNY, New Paltz. She is a prizewinner of the New Orleans, Ferruccio Busoni and Jose Iturbi international piano competitions. An active recording artist, performer and teacher, she is currently based in New York City.

Susan Sobolewski has had a performing career spanning three continents, including several tours as an artistic ambassador in India. She has also performed as a recitalist in the UK, Denmark, Canada, the Caribbean and across the United States, with New York performances including solo, chamber and orchestral concerts at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Steinway Hall and the Abrons Art Center. Additionally, she has performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Virtuosi Quintet, the Metropolitan Opera, and is a featured pianist with the Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble. Her discography includes two solo recordings of American music, in addition to Out of the Blue with Eleonor Bindman. She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music, where she also earned the Performer’s Certificate. Sobolewski is professor of music and director of chamber ensembles at SUNY/Nassau.

Johann Sebastian Bach belonged to a dynasty of musicians. In following inevitable family tradition, he excelled his forebears and contemporaries, although he did not always receive in his own lifetime the respect he deserved. Despite widespread neglect for almost a century after his death, Bach is now regarded as one of the greatest of all composers. Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis numbers, abbreviated to BWV, are generally accepted for convenience of reference.