Eliot Fisk
Eliot Fisk | |
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Website | EliotFisk.com |
Eliot Hamilton Fisk (born August 10, 1954) is an American classical guitarist.[1]
Music career
Education and teaching
Fisk was born into a
In 1989 Fisk became an instructor at the
Performing
Fisk has performed with orchestras around the world, including
Transcriptions, commissions
Fisk has increased the amount of material available to classical guitarists by transcribing music written for other instruments. This increased repertoire includes his transcriptions of
He has also expanded the body of music for classical guitar by commissioning new pieces from composers, such as Leonardo Balada, Robert Beaser, Luciano Berio, William Bolcom, Nicholas Maw, Xavier Montsalvatge, George Rochberg, and Kurt Schwertsik.[6]
The volume and impact of his transcriptions, as well as of his teaching, has led him to be called "the
Recording
In the 1990s, Segovia's widow gave Fisk unpublished compositions by Segovia. Fisk turned these compositions into Segovia: Canciones Populares, which became a bestseller on the Classical Album chart of Billboard magazine.
Awards and honors
- First place, International Guitar Competition, Gargnano, Italy (1980)
- Grammy Award nomination, Mountain Songs (1987)
- Grand Cross of Isabel la Cátolica, for contribution to Spanish music (2006)
- Teacher of the Year, New England Conservatory (2010)
- Best Classical Guitarist, Guitar Player magazine Readers Poll
Views on guitarists
Eliot Fisk has said:
- "It's true that Segovia didn't get compositions from Bartók, Stravinsky, Prokifiev and a lot of composers we would like to have pieces from. Maybe he was in a position to have done that, but on the other hand, who among us has done as much as he did? If other people were interested, they could've tried to commission them. Besides, this criticism of Segovia is pointless. If you disagree with what Segovia did, take that energy and go out and do something positive. Otherwise, shut up."[1]
- "Now, it's different when John Williams, who studied with Segovia, says he wasn't a good teacher and the like. There is a difference in generation. [...] I didn't have Segovia butting into my life, telling me to do this and that. That's why John needed to rebel violently."[1]
- "My rebellion is in truth against Bream and Williams; because I have to confess I'm a bit disappointed in both of them. From time immemorial, it has been the practice of one generation to pass on to the next what it learned. But my generation has almost no guitar fathers. Ghiglia and Diaz taught and were accessible, but Bream and Williams were not. [...] They've both given immensely. But growing up, I was very saddened by their inaccessibility. I feel that my generation lost a lot because of that. In a way, we all need to rebel. The next generation will rebel against us. It's one thing I encourage when teaching. I want to give my students the strength to tell me to go to hell. 'Cause if they can tell me to go to hell, they can tell the world. Ultimately, that will help them, not to be difficult but rather to have conviction for the long struggle."[1]
Discography
Year | Album | Label |
---|---|---|
1981 | Eliot Fisk: Guitar Virtuoso | Musical Heritage Society |
1985 | Eliot Fisk Performs Works by Baroque Composers | MusicMasters |
1986 | Eliot Fisk Performs Baroque Guitar Transcriptions | Musical Heritage Society |
1989 | Eliot Fisk Plays Guitar Fantasies | MusicMasters |
1993 | Paganini: 24 Caprices | MusicMasters |
1991 | Bell'Italia: Four Centuries of Italian Music | MusicMasters |
1993 | Latin American Guitar | MusicMasters |
1993 | Vivaldi Concertos & Other Works | MusicMasters |
1994 | Mountain Songs: A Cycle of American Folk Music with Paula Robison | MusicMasters |
1994 | Rochberg:Caprice Variations | MusicMasters |
1995 | Sequenza! | MusicMasters |
1995 | The Best of Eliot Fisk | MusicMasters |
1995 | Eliot Fisk: Für Eliot | GSP |
1996 | Segovia: Canciones Populares | Musical Heritage Society |
1998 | Bach: The Trio Sonatas | MusicMasters |
1999 | Canciones Latinas | Musical Heritage Society |
2000 | George Rochberg: Eden: Out of Time & Out of Space | Arabesque |
2001 | Concert Music for Guitar and Mandolin Orchestra, Vol. 2 | MDG |
2001 | Bach: The Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin | Musical Heritage Society |
2002 | The Artistry of Eliot Fisk | Musical Heritage Society |
2003 | Scarlatti: 18 Sonatas | Vgo |
2004 | Castelnuevo-Tedesco: Guitar Concerto No. 1; Guitar Quintet; Other Works | Musical Heritage Society |
2005 | Françaix, Ponce, Rodrigo: Guitar Concertos | Essay |
2006 | Ernesto Halffter: Sinfonietta; Guitar Concerto | Essay |
2009 | Eliot Fisk Performs His Own Guitar Transcription of Works by Baroque Composers | Musical Heritage Society |
2010 | A Tribute to Andrés Segovia | Nimbus |
2010 | The Red Guitar | Wildner |
2010 | Ein kleines Requiem | Wildner |
2014 | Paco Peña & Eliot Fisk in Duo Recital | Nimbus |
2014 | Songs Without Words: From Bach to Bachianas | Albany |
2015 | Ralf Yusuf Gawlick: Kollwitz-Konnex, Song Cycle for Soprano & Guitar | Musica Omnia[9] |
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7864-0813-8.
- ^ Eichler, Jeremy (June 10, 2011). "Searching in the guitar for all the colors of the orchestra". Boston Globe. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ^ Johnson, Melinda (March 8, 2013). "Guitarist Eliot Fisk to perform with Symphoria on Saturday night". Syracuse Post Standard.
- ^ a b c d Morita, Patsy. "Eliot Fisk | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "Biography". Eliot Fisk. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ^ a b Serinus, Jason Victor (April 2007). "Interview: Eliot Fisk - Classical Guitarist". Home Theater Hi-Fi. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
- ^ Introduction to Fisk's concert on November 6th, 2021, at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, San Francisco. See for instance [1], accessed September 2, 2023.
- ^ "Eliot Fisk- Bio, Albums, Pictures". Naxos. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
- ^ "Eliot Fisk | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
Further reading
- Kandell, Leslie (May 4, 1997). "The Quiet Route To Winning Acclaim". The New York Times. Profile of Eliot Fisk.
- Fraser, Kennedy (March 23, 1992). "Figuring It Out". New Yorker Magazine. Profile of Eliot Fisk.
External links
- Official site
- Fisk at TEDx Talks on YouTube
- Paganini's Caprice No. 24, New York Guitar Festival on YouTube