B i o g r a p h y
Widely recognized as one of today’s leading collaborative pianists, Brian Zeger has performed with many of the world’s greatest singers including Marilyn Horne, Deborah Voigt, Anna Netrebko, Susan Graham, René Pape, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Piotr Beczala, Bryn Terfel, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves and Adrianne Pieczonka in an extensive concert career has taken him to the premiere concert halls throughout the United States and abroad.
His new recordings released this season include Preludios - Spanish songs with Isabel Leonard - and a recording of Strauss and Wagner lieder with Adrianne Pieczonka, both for the Delos label. Last season Delos released Dear Theo: 3 Song Cycles by Ben Moore with Paul Appleby, Susanna Phillips and Brett Polegato.
Recent concert highlights have included recitals with Deborah Voigt, collaborations with Susan Graham at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at Carnegie Hall; recitals with Anna Netrebko at the Vilar Performing Arts Center, with tenor Paul Appleby as part of the Bard Music Festival and at the Schubertiade Festival with Adrianne Pieczonka.
His upcoming season includes recitals with Adrianne Pieczonka; a recital CD with mezzo Jamie Barton and two concerts where he is both pianist and curator: Juilliard Songfest at Alice Tully Hall and Pergamon: The Romantic Obsession at Metropolitan Museum of Art with soprano Susanna Phillips and bass Shenyang. He will also take part in a celebration of the songs of Ben Moore for Cliburn Concerts in Fort Worth with baritone Edward Parks and other artists.
George Tsontakis - Bagatelle for piano (1996)
Upcoming chamber music appearances include the Bard Music Festival and the Cape Cod Chamber Music festival with the Jupiter String Quartet as well the Frankly Music series in Milwaukee. In past seasons he has been a regular guest at many summer festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Caramoor, Aldeburgh, and Santa Fe and enjoyed chamber music collaborations with the Borromeo and Brentano Quartets, An die Musik, the New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensembles and with Bernard Greenhouse, Glenn Dicterow, Eugene Drucker and Paula Robison. He has also made concerto appearances with the Boston Pops, multiple concert appearances at the White House and United States Supreme Court and appeared with Deborah Voigt and Frederica von Stade on the telecast of the Metropolitan Opera’s Gala saluting Joseph Volpe.
In addition to his distinguished concert career, he also serves as Artistic Director of the Vocal Arts Department at The Juilliard School and the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists Development Program. Previously he had served for many seasons as the director of the vocal program at the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival as well as on the faculties of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, the Chautauqua Institute, the Mannes College of Music and the Peabody Conservatory. He has given master classes for numerous institutions, including The Guildhall School of Music in London, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Tanglewood Music Center, the Marilyn Horne Foundation and Stanford University.
Some of his critical essays and other writings have appeared in Opera News, The Yale Review and Chamber Music magazine. He has made frequent appearances on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts both on the opera quiz and as intermission host and performer and has the distinction of creating, narrating and performing in five intermission features devoted to art song, a first in the long history of the Met broadcasts. He has also made numerous musical appearances on live-streamed broadcasts from WQXR’s The Greene Space. He has adjudicated many prominent competitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Concert Artists Guild auditions, the Walter W. Naumberg Vocal Competition and Richard Tucker Music Foundation Auditions.
Born in upstate New York, Mr. Zeger is now a resident of Manhattan. He holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Harvard College, a master's degree from The Juilliard School and a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music. His important teachers have included Morris Borenstein, Sascha Gorodnitzki and Nina Svetlanova.