Jay Greenberg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jay "Bluejay" Greenberg (born December 13, 1991, New Haven, Connecticut) is an American composer who entered the Juilliard School in 2002.
He came to the American media's attention in part through the sponsorship of Juilliard instructor Samuel Zyman, who lauded Greenberg's talent during a CBS News 60 Minutes broadcast on November 28, 2004, and again on November 26, 2006. "We are talking about a prodigy of the level of the greatest prodigies in history, when it comes to composition. I am talking about the likes of Mozart, and Mendelssohn, and Saint-Saëns."[1] His primary composition instructor was Samuel Adler.
Greenberg composes primarily on his computer, using a music notation program with which he can commit his ideas to paper and play his scores back on synthetic instruments. He has written five symphonies and other works. His most famous work is currently an Overture to 9-11, about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. At the time of the attacks, he was living in Macedonia but has since returned to the United States. His father is an American and makes a living as a Slavic linguist. His Israeli-born mother also has no musical background, but Jay found himself attracted to music from an early age, having begun playing the cello at the age of two.
Greenberg says he hears the music performed inside his head, and often several musical pieces simultaneously, and he is then able to simply notate what he has listened to. He rarely needs to make corrections to what he has notated. A lot of other material comes to him in this manner, not merely music which he sees as more of a hobby. He is interested in most everything and can see himself studying for instance physics, psychology, computer science or cartography.[1]
The Sony BMG Masterworks label released his first CD on August 15, 2006; it includes his Symphony no. 5 and String Quintet as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of José Serebrier and by the Juilliard String Quartet with cellist Darrett Adkins respectively.
On October 28, 2007, Joshua Bell gave the premiere of Greenberg's Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall, performing with the Orchestra of St. Luke's.[2]
[edit] Works
- Symphony no. 5
- Overture to 9/11
- Short Stories, tenor saxophone, percussion, and orchestra
- Quintet for Strings
- The Storm
[edit] References
- ^ a b Scott Pelley, 'Blue Jay' Spreads His Wings, 60 Minutes
- ^ Carnegie Hall's Concert Listing.
