Jeffrey Milarsky

Conductor

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, MET Chamber Ensemble, New York New Music Ensemble, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Manhattan Sinfonietta, Speculum Musicae, Cygnus Ensemble, Fromm Players at Harvard University, and the New York Philharmonic chamber music series. He is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Percussion Ensemble at the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Milarsky is the Music Director of AXIOM, Juilliard’s newest contemporary music ensemble. He became a member of Juilliard’s conducting faculty in September, 2008.

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 and 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, will perform, tour and record throughout the United States and abroad.

This past summer, Mr. Milarsky was called to Tanglewood to substitute for Maestro James Levine in an all Elliott Carter program in honor of the composer’s 100th birthday. The appearance marked Mr. Milarsky’s return to Tanglewood where he was a student in 1989 and 1990. In May of 2006, Mr. Milarsky substituted for James Levine at Carnegie Hall, conducting an all Milton Babbitt concert featuring the composer’s chamber music. He also recently performed at IRCAM in Paris, conducting and recording compositions by Joshua Fineberg and Tristan Murail. Upcoming appearances include conducting dates in Norway, Italy, and Paris in 2009.

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. He 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 (U.S. Premiere) with Speculum Musicae. With Ensemble Sospeso, he has conducted three United States premieres by Wolfgang Rihm, and two by Tristan Murail.

Jeffrey 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 more than 150 works by Juilliard student composers during the past fifteen years. Mr. Milarsky also is a member of Juilliard’s Pre-College Percussion Faculty at Juilliard.

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 was named the Principal Timpanist for the Santa Fe Opera in 2005. He has recorded extensively for Angel, Bridge, Teldec, Telarc, New World, CRI, MusicMasters, EMI, Koch, and London records.