Jonathan Biss Master Class

Jonathan Biss, Mildred Levinson Piano Artist-in-Residence, presents a master class featuring students from the NEC Piano Studios.

About Jonathan Biss

Biss made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the 92nd Street Y. In early 2001, he performed with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Kurt Masur. His European career was launched in 2002 when he became the first American to be selected as a BBC New Generation Artist, winning a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award the following year. He made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall in January 2011.

He has appeared with the foremost orchestras in the United States including the Los Angeles and New York philharmonics; the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco symphonies, and the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras. Biss is a frequent guest soloist in Europe where he has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. An enthusiastic performer of chamber music, Biss has appeared with renowned artists such as Mitsuko Uchida, Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Midori, and Kim Kashkashian.

In 2010, Biss was appointed to the piano faculty as Neubauer Family Chair at his alma mater the Curtis Institute of Music. As part of his teaching career, Jonathan Biss became the first classical musician to partner with Coursera. Together they created Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas, a free video course on several of Beethoven's most famous sonatas. The course has reached more than 150,000 students in more than 185 countries. He will continue to add lectures until he covers all the sonatas.

This master class is made possible by Edith Michelson Milender in honor of her mother Mildred Levinson ‘29.

Mildred completed a four-year program in two years and graduated from NEC with a diploma in Piano in June 1929, receiving special honors in Fine Arts and English Literature. Upon graduation, she received a scholarship that allowed her to earn a postgraduate Piano as a Soloist diploma from NEC in June 1930. After NEC, Mildred held a successful career as both a performer on local radio and as a private piano teacher in the Boston area. Mildred married Leo Michelson and raised three children who grew up to appreciate their mother’s passion for classical music.

This performance is open in person to NEC student, faculty, and staff audiences only. It can be viewed below via livestream.

Watch livestream from Williams Hall: