Wikipedia

Joanne Polk

Joanne Polk is a pianist with a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Degrees from The Juilliard School, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music. She holds master classes at many Universities and festivals across the country.[1]

Career

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Pianist Joanne Polk was best known to the public when she appeared on the Arabesque Recordings label with her recordings of the complete piano works of American composer Amy Beach (1867–1944). Polk celebrated the centennial of the premiere of Beach's piano concerto performing the piece under the baton of Paul Goodwin with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in London. The first solo recording for the Beach series in 1998 won the INDIE Award for Best Solo Recording.[2][3]

One year earlier, she recorded the CD Completely Clara: Lieder by Clara Wieck Schumann for Arabesque Records together with soprano Korliss Uecker. This CD was chosen as "Best of the Year" by The Seattle Times. Joanne Polk, together with baritone Patrick Mason, recorded the CD Songs of Amy Beach for Bridge records, which was nominated in 2007 for at Grammy Award.[4] Polk has released a two CD sets of the music of Fanny Mendelssohn as well. These CDs, titled Songs for Pianoforte with solo piano music by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was recorded for the Newport Classic label. Polk also recorded a CD titled Fanni and Felix Mendelssohn which contained solo piano music of Fanny and her brother Felix, and was released on the Bridge Records label.[5]

In 2014, Polk released a CD titled The Flatterer for the Steinway & Sons Label, which included solo piano music by French romantic composer Cécile Chaminade. The CD debuted at number 1 on the Classical Billboard Chart and was a “Pick of the Week” on New York's classical radio station WQXR.[1] In the same year, Joanne Polk was named one of Musical America's Top 30 Professionals of the Year.[6] In 2017, Joanne Polk released a CD called Gershwin & Wild for the Steinway & Sons label. The CD contains Earl Wild's transcriptions of Gershwin's songs, as well as Wild's Piano Sonata.[3] In 2018, Polk performed a three-week concerts and masterclass tours in five cities in China and Taiwan.[7]

In February 2020, Polk released a CD titled Louise Farrenc Etudes and Variations Piano Solo on Steinway & Sons Label.[8] That same year in December, that CD was on the New York Times' "Best Classical Music of 2020" list.[9] Polk 's last recording was released on September 1, 2023, for Steinway & Sons under the title "The Silence Between the Notes: Louise Farrenc Solo Piano Music Volume 2".[8]

Polk returned to China in 2024 for a three-week, 8-city tour. She is an exclusive Steinway artist.[10]

Discography

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  • Clara Wieck Schumann: Lieder of Clara Schumann (1993)
  • Zones: Chamber Music by Judith lang Zaimont (1997)
  • Amy Beach: By the Still Waters (1998)
  • Beach: Under the Stars (1998)
  • Amy Beach: Fire-Flies (1998)
  • Beach: Empress of Night (2000)
  • Callisto (2003)
  • Songs of Amy Beach (2005)
  • Completely Clara: Lieder by Clara Wieck Schumann (2006)
  • The Piano Music of Fanny Mendelssohn (2010)
  • Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn (2012)
  • The Flatterer (2014)
  • Gershwin & Wild (2017)
  • Louise Farrenc: Etudes & Variations for Solo Piano (2020)
  • Social Flutterby: Piano Music of David Shenton (2021)
  • The Silence Between the Notes: Louise Farrenc Solo Piano Music Volume 2 (2023)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Joanne Polk". msmnyc.edu. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  2. ^ "The Performing Arts Series kicks off with pianist Joanne Polk Tuesday!". carthage.edu. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Gershwin & Wild" (PDF). eclassical.com. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  4. ^ "INTERVIEW WITH DR. JOANNE POLK". raddaconnect.com. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  5. ^ "STEINWAY & SONS RELEASES JOANNE POLK'S NEW ALBUM, THE FLATTERER: MUSIC OF CÉCILE CHAMINADE". steinway.com. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  6. ^ "ProfessionAls of the YeAr" (PDF). musicalamerica.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  7. ^ "Adjudication". princetonsymphony.org. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "THE SILENCE BETWEEN THE NOTES LOUISE FARRENC SOLO PIANO WORKS VOL. 2 JOANNE POLK". steinway.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  9. ^ "Best Classical Music of 2020". nytimes.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  10. ^ "CÉCILE CHAMINADE THE FLATTERER JOANNE POLK". steinway.com. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
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