Emily Bear

Emily Bear
Birth name Emily Bear
Born (2001-08-30) August 30, 2001
Origin Illinois, U.S.
Genres Classical, jazz, Third Stream
Occupation(s) Musician, composer
Instruments Piano
Years active 2007–present
Associated acts Quincy Jones, Nikki Yanofsky
Website www.emilybear.com

Emily Bear (born August 30, 2001) is an American composer and pianist, who has achieved wide notice at an early age.[1] After beginning to compose and play piano as a small child, Bear has played with orchestras in the U.S., Europe and Asia, at such venues as Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. She released her first studio album in 2013, produced by her mentor, Quincy Jones.

Life and career

Bear was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, the youngest of three children of Brian, an orthopedic surgeon, and Andrea Bear, and Bear currently attends high school.[2] Bear is the great-granddaughter of late Judge Max H. Reicher of New Britain, Connecticut.[3]

When Bear was two years old, her grandmother, Merle Langs Greenberg, recognized her talent at the piano.[4] Bear began to study with Emilio del Rosario at the Music Institute of Chicago. Within four years, she was enrolled at the Winnetka campus to study classical music. Bear started to compose music at the age of three. By the age of eight, she had composed more than 350 pieces.[5] For her piece "Northern Lights" she won the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award for composers under 18 years of age.[6] She also won the Rockford Area Music Industry Award (RAMI).[7] Bear debuted at the Ravinia Festival at age 5.[8]

Bear has made six appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show,[9][10] played at the White House for President George W. Bush, at the age of six,[6] and performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra.

Emily Bear made her debut at Carnegie Hall in 2010 at age 9.[8] In 2011, she appeared at the Hollywood Bowl before more than 11,000 people, where she played a medley of her own arrangement, "The Bumble Boogie" and performed "Miss Celie's Blues" (from the score of The Color Purple) with singers Gloria Estefan, Patti Austin, Siedah Garrett and Nikki Yanofsky. That summer, her mentor, Quincy Jones, presented Bear at the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland[2] and the Festival Castell in Peralada, Spain where she performed solo as well as with Esperanza Spalding.[8] Jones stated: "I am at once astounded and inspired by the enormous talent that Emily embodies. ... She is the complete 360-degree package, and there are no limits to the musical heights that she can reach."[8]

Since age six, Bear has studied classical piano with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s principal keyboardist Mary Sauer and also studies with Veda Kaplinsky, head of the piano department at Juilliard. She studies jazz improvisation with Alan Swain and composing with Ron Sadoff, head of New York University Film Scoring Department. Bear continues to compose prolifically and particularly enjoys composing for film.[8]

Released in May 2013, Diversity, a jazz album on the Concord Records label, produced by Jones, was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Bear composed all of the music on the album.[2] The album peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Traditional Jazz Albums chart.[11] In 2015, Bear won another ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award.[12]

Dates and performances

Source, except as noted: Emily Bear's Official homepage[13]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Braun, Georgette (2008-11-26). "Rockford piano prodigy to play role in Thanksgiving parade". Rockford Register Star (GateHouse Media, Inc). Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  2. 1 2 3 Levine, Doug. "Musical Prodigy Emily Bear Wows Audiences Worldwide", Voice of America, May 31, 2013
  3. ↑ "Max H. Reicher". Weinstein Mortuary.
  4. ↑ "The Next Mozart?". WGN News. May 15, 2008.
  5. ↑ "Buy Emily Bear's Songs!". The Ellen DeGeneres Show. 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  6. 1 2 Braun, Georgette (2008-12-04). "Rockford pianist to perform at awards show". Rockford Register Star (GateHouse Media, Inc). Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  7. ↑ Braun, Georgette (2007-06-28). "Pianist, 6, takes top RAMI Award". The Rockford Register Star. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Biography, emilybear.com, accessed September 29, 2013
  9. ↑ "Rockford piano prodigy, 6, featured today on Ellen". Rockford Register Star (GateHouse Media, Inc). 2008-04-25. Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  10. ↑ "Emily Bear Official Site - News". Emily Bear Official Homepate. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  11. ↑ Traditional Jazz Albums, Billboard, June 1, 2013
  12. 1 2 "ASCAP 16th Annual Concert Music Awards to Honor Julia Wolfe and American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME)", ASCAP, May 20, 2015
  13. ↑ "Event page on Official Site". Retrieved 2009-05-18.

External links

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