A member of jazz’s piano pantheon, Fred Hersch has been an influential creative force for more than three decades as an improviser, composer, educator, bandleader, collaborator, and recording artist. He has been proclaimed “the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the last decade” by Vanity Fair and “a living legend” by the New Yorker. A 17-time Grammy nominee, he has garnered jazz’s most prestigious awards. The Fred Hersch Trio was voted the #1 Jazz Group in the 2019 DownBeat Critics Poll. An influential solo pianist, he has 12 solo recordings in his catalog, including Silent, Listening (2024), a collaboration with legendary producer Manfred Eicher for the ECM label. All About Jazz remarked that “when it comes to the art of solo piano in jazz, there are two classes of performers: Fred Hersch and everybody else.” An exceptionally responsive and intuitive collaborator, he has engaged in duo partnerships with a number of spirited artists.
While widely renowned for his playing, Hersch has earned similar distinction with his composing, garnering a Guggenheim Fellowship in composition, among other awards. His large-scale setting of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass for two voices and instrumental octet was selected to open the 2017 Jazz at Lincoln Center season at the Appel Room. A committed educator, Hersch has taught at New England Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and has given master classes around the world. His influence has been widely felt on a new generation of jazz pianists, from former students Brad Mehldau, Sullivan Fortner, Dan Tepfer and Ethan Iverson to his friend and piano colleague Jason Moran
Hersch’s memoir, Good Things Happen Slowly reveals the story of his life in music along with a frank recounting of his health struggles and triumphs as the first openly gay, HIV-positive jazz musician.
September 21 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Bernstein Remix! A Benefit for Artful Learning