Jeremy Denk

Jeremy Denk is one of America's foremost pianists. Winner of a MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, Denk is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Denk returns frequently to Carnegie Hall and has appeared with renowned ensembles including the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. His recordings have received critical acclaim, including reaching No. 1 on the Billboard classical charts and featuring on many 'best of the year' lists. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, New Republic, Guardian, and the New York Times Book Review. Denk graduated from Oberlin College, Indiana University, and the Juilliard School. In Every Good Boy Does Fine, Denk explores how classical music is relevant to ‘real life’, despite its distance in time; how it is structured; and how it achieves its effects. He unpacks pieces by composers that have shaped him –Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms, among others – and shares unusual and highly original lessons on the roles of melody, harmony, and rhythm. Denk passes on to his readers the lessons he has learned; honours the debt he owes to so many remarkable and different teachers; and reminds us that music is our creation, and that we need to keep asking questions about its purpose.