With the dawning of a new millennium, pianist Jeffrey Siegel wants to make the music of three men he considers the greatest composers of the last century relevant and interesting to young people. Siegel will play excerpts on the piano from works by George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copeland, stopping midway through the pieces to relate to the audience information about each composer's life. He will then play the pieces in their entirety. Following the programs, Siegel will hold question and answer sessions. Great music will endure in society, so long as young people are exposed to it in a way that interests them, Siegel says.
Music begins where words leave off.
They also all happened to have been Jews. Their music is a product of who they were, their backgrounds and their identity as human beings, which includes their identity as Americans and Jews, says Siegel, who is also Jewish. But Judaism does not play a noticeable role in their works. Siegel has played the three composers' music in Scottsdale previously, but never before together in one program. The upcoming concert will also mark the first time in 20 years of performing in Scottsdale that he will concentrate exclusively on Jewish composers.