- William Eddins
William Eddins (born
December 9 ,1964 inBuffalo, New York ) is an Americanpianist and conductor. He is the Music Director of theEdmonton Symphony Orchestra .Eddins started playing piano at age 5 after his parents purchased a piano at a garage sale. He studied with
David Effron at theEastman School of Music inRochester, New York , and completed his degree in piano performance in 1983 at age 18, one of the youngest graduates in the institution’s history. He subsequently studied conducting with Daniel Lewis at theUniversity of Southern California Thornton School of Music. In 1987, he was a founding member of theNew World Symphony Orchestra inMiami, Florida .Eddins has served as Associate Conductor of the
Minnesota Orchestra , Resident Conductor of theChicago Symphony Orchestra , Principal Guest Conductor of theNational Symphony Orchestra of Ireland , and assistant toDaniel Barenboim at theBerlin State Opera .In 2000, Eddins received the Seaver Conducting Award (funded by the Seaver Institute and the
National Endowment for the Arts ), a triennial grant awarded to exceptionally gifted young American conductors.As a conductor, Eddins is eclectic in his preferences. A classicist in his approach to the music of
Haydn ,Mozart andBeethoven , he also favors North American repertoire in his programming. Music by Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, and Antheil figure prominently in his performances. He is fascinated with the music ofLili Boulanger . He has collaborated with contemporary composers such asSteve Reich ,Steven Stucky ,Oskar Morawetz ,Malcolm Forsyth ,Allan Gilliland ,John Estacio , andAaron Jay Kernis .As pianist, Eddins has recorded solo piano works by Beethoven,
Debussy and William Albright on his own CD label. He has recorded cello concertos byVirgil Thomson ,William Schuman and William Perry forNaxos Records . An avid chamber musician, he also conducts works byMozart ,Beethoven ,Gershwin , Poulenc, Franck, Fauré and Ravel from thepiano .Eddins is the producer and host of a series of podcasts called "Classical Connections", dedicated to exploring the history of classical music, and available on his website.
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External links
* [http://www.williameddins.com/ William Eddins website]
* [http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/AbouttheESO/OurMusicDirector/tabid/77/Default.aspx William Eddins biography at Edmonton Symphony Orchestra website]
* [http://www.omicronarts.com/ William Eddins management website]
* [http://www.insidethearts.com/sticksanddrones/ "Sticks and Drones" website]References
cite web
last = Baker
first = D.T
title = Edmonton Symphony History
publisher = Edmonton Symphony Orchestra website
url = http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/AbouttheESO/HistoryoftheESO/tabid/261/Default.aspx
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