Lecturer in Music
Music Director/Conductor, The Columbia University Orchestra
Jeffrey Milarsky is the leading conductor of contemporary music in New York City. In the United States and abroad, he has premiered and recorded works by contemporary composers, including Charles Wuorinen, Fred Lerdahl, Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Lasse Thoresen, Gerard Grisey, Jonathan Dawe, Tristan Murail, Ralph Shapey, Luigi Nono, Mario Davidovsky and Wolfgang Rihm. His wide ranging repertoire, which spans from Bach to Xenakis, has brought him to lead such accomplished groups as the American Composers Orchestra, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Manhattan Sinfonietta, Speculum Musicae, Cygnus Ensemble, The Fromm Players at Harvard University, The Composers’ Ensemble at Princeton University, and the New York Philharmonic chamber music series. He is on the faculty of The Manhattan School of Music as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Percussion Ensemble. Mr. Milarsky is the Music Director of AXIOM, Juilliard’s newest contemporary music ensemble. In addition, he has been a regular guest conductor of the StonyBrook Orchestra.
A much-in-demand percussionist who has performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic among many ensembles, Mr. Milarsky is Professor in Music at Columbia University, where he is the Music Director/Conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra. Also at Columbia University, Mr. Milarsky has is the Music Director and Conductor of the newly formed Manhattan Sinfonietta which will concentrate on 20th and 21st century scores. This ensemble, in residence at Columbia University, is one of the United States’ finest instrumental groups, will perform, tour and record throughout the United States and abroad.
In May of 2006, Mr. Milarsky substituted for James Levine at Carnegie Hall, conducting an all Milton Babbitt concert of his chamber music. In August of 2004, he made his debut with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway, conducting Ravel and Liebermann. Autumn and Spring 2007 will also see conducting dates in Norway, Italy, Paris and Austria, as well as his debut at Carnegie Hall with the American Composers Orchestra. My Milarsky has recently performed at IRCAM in Paris, conducting and recording compositions by Joshua Fineberg and Tristan Murail. In addition, Mr. Milarsky was named the Principal Timpanist for the Santa Fe Opera beginning the summer of 2005.
Mr. Milarsky made his Parisian debut, conducting the BIT20 Ensemble at the Olivier Messiaen Hall at Radio France, in a performance of the prize winning score of Lasse Thoresen’s Lop, Lokk Og Linjar. Mr. Milarsky is the regular guest conductor of The BIT20 Ensemble, having performed with them around the globe, including Paris, Estonia, Latvia, Norway and Italy. Other recent highlights include conducting the Cygnus Ensemble in the world premiere of Milton Babbitt’s Swansong, conducting the world premiere and recording Mario Davidovsky’s Flashbacks, and several area premieres of the music of Gerard Grisey: Les Espaces Acoustiques (New York premiere) for Columbia University’s “Music for a New Century” series and Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil (US Premiere) with Speculum Musicae. With the Ensemble Sospeso, he has conducted three United States premieres by Wolfgang Rihm, and two by Tristan Murail.
Mr. Milarsky received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding leadership and achievement in the arts. He regularly conducts The Juilliard Orchestra, with whom he has premiered over 150 works of Juilliard student composers over the past fifteen years. He is also on the Pre-College Percussion Faculty at Juilliard, and has been, until recently, Director of the Composition Forum.
As an active chamber and orchestral musician, Mr. Milarsky performs and records regularly with The New York Philharmonic, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The American Composers Orchestra, The Stamford Symphony and Concordia. He has recorded extensively for Angel, Bridge, Teldec, Telarc, New World, CRI, MusicMasters, EMI, Koch, and London records.
(November 2007)
