Bach and Improvisation

Jeremy Denk and Loren Schoenberg in Conversation
Free and open to all 

February 8, 2022 at 5:00 PM
Online

Two celebrated musicians and thinkers from the worlds of classical music and jazz meet to discuss the musical practice of J.S. Bach. They’ll look at lesser-known aspects of Bach’s career, including his renowned abilities as an improviser and his varied life as a working musician. We’ll see how his example is akin to the artistic practice of jazz musicians today.

Jeremy Denk is one of America’s foremost pianists. Winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, Denk was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Along with his many acclaimed recordings and performances in the world’s leading concert halls, Denk is also known for his original and insightful writings on music, which have appeared in the New Yorker, the New Republic, The Guardian, and on the front page of the New York Times Book Review.

Loren Schoenberg is Founding Director and Senior Scholar at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. As a saxophonist, he has performed and recorded with jazz greats including Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, and Wynton Marsalis, and has conducted the jazz orchestras of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Juilliard School, where he’s currently on the faculty. He has received two Grammy Awards for his liner notes, and is the author of The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Jazz.