Denk did not come from a musical family. After several years in New Jersey, his family settled in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he grew up. He attended Oberlin College and did graduate work at Indiana University where he studied with György Sebők.[1]
In 2014 Denk served as music director of the Ojai Music Festival, for which, besides performing and curating, he wrote the libretto for a comic opera, The Classical Style, with music by Steven Stucky.[9] The opera was later presented by Carnegie Hall and the Aspen Festival. Denk is known for his original and insightful writing on music, which Alex Ross praises for its "arresting sensitivity and wit."[This quote needs a citation] His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Guardian, and on the front page of The New York Times Book Review.[10][11] One of his New Yorker contributions, "Every Good Boy Does Fine" (cf. EGBDF), forms the basis of a book published by Random House in the US, and Macmillan in the UK.[12] Recounting his experiences of touring, performing, and practicing, his blog, Think Denk, was recently selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress web archives.[13][14]
In 2012, Denk made his Nonesuch debut with a pairing of masterpieces old and new: Beethoven's final Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111, and Ligeti's Études.[15] The album was named one of the best of 2012 by The New Yorker, NPR, and The Washington Post, and Denk's account of the Beethoven sonata was selected by BBC Radio 3's Building a Library as the best available version recorded on modern piano. Denk has a long-standing attachment to the music of American visionary Charles Ives, and his recording of Ives's two piano sonatas featured in many "best of the year" lists.
In 2019, Denk released an album entitled c.1300–c.2000, of piano versions of pieces by composers from circa the years 1300 to 2000. The album was released on Nonesuch Records.[17] He discussed the work on BBC Radio 4's Front Row in March 2019.[18]
October 2010: Jeremy Denk Plays Ives, which features Charles Ives' Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, on his Think Denk Media Label
Bach Partitas 3, 4, 6. Azica Records
Works for Solo Piano by Leon Kirchner. Sonata No. 2 for Piano. Albany Records
Tobias Picker's Piano Concerto No. 2 ("Keys to the City"). Russian Philharmonic. Thomas Sanderling, conductor. Chandos Records
John Corigliano Violin Sonata. Joshua Bell, violin. Sony Records
Gabriel Fauré Violin Sonata. Chausson Concert. Soovin Kim/Jupiter String Quartet. Azica Records
Brahms and Dvořák Quintets, with Concertante Chamber Ensemble. Meridian Records
February 2019: c. 1300–c. 2000, Nonesuch Records
September 2021: Mozart Piano Concertos, with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Nonesuch Records
Bibliographyedit
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2015)
Denk, Jeremy (April 8, 2013). "Every good boy does fine : a life in piano lessons". Personal History. The New Yorker. Vol. 89, no. 8. pp. 40–45. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
Denk, Jeremy (2022). Every Good Boy Does Fine; A Love Story in Music Lessons. Random House.
Referencesedit
^Denk, Jeremy. Every Good Boy Does Fine; A Love Story in Music Lessons, Random House: 2022.
^"Jeremy Denk – MacArthur Foundation". Retrieved September 30, 2013.
^Think Denk It's a pun: "denk" is German for "think".
^"Ligeti/Beethoven: Piano Études; Sonata No 32 – review". TheGuardian.com. May 12, 2012.
^"Oberlin Conservatory | Oberlin in New York 2013 Illumination Tour".
^Tom Huizenga (January 31, 2019). "Jeremy Denk Maps Centuries of Music History on 'c.1300-c.2000'". NPR. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
^Presenter: Stig Abell; Producer: Hannah Robins (March 26, 2019). "A history of classical music in ten minutes - plus tragedy on today's stage". Front Row. BBC. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
^"Jeremy Denk". Edinburgh International Festival. May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2019.