donal fox

inventions in blue

Donal Fox: Inventions In Blue

"A composer, pianist and improviser who deftly draws from jazz and classical contemporary traditions."
— The New York Times

"Art Tatum on the right hand; Johann Sebastian Bach on the left; Donal Fox in the middle."
— Terrance McKnight, WQXR

"Fox is a brilliant technician and an exquisite magician at the keyboard. From Bach's 'Preludium' emerged a tango by Astor Piazzolla as if it were the most natural thing in the world."
— Mittelbayrische Zeitung
(Germany)

With an encyclopedic ear and ravishing technique, Donal Fox draws on a vast repertoire in this solo piano concert that includes works by and based on J.S. Bach, Thelonious Monk, George Frideric Handel, John Coltrane, Frédéric Chopin, Radiohead, Robert Schumann, Ornette Coleman, John Dowland, Horace Silver and more.

Internationally acclaimed as a composer, pianist, and improviser, Donal Fox expertly fuses jazz, Afro-Latin and classical idioms into intricate new works and electrifying performances. Praised by The Boston Globe as "unique and utterly commanding," Fox de- and reconstructs Bach, Piazzolla, Schumann, Monk, Schoenberg and more, adding propulsive grooves and using composed themes as springboards for glorious improvisational flights that blend baroque with bebop, twelve-tone techniques with twelve-bar blues.

A Steinway Artist, Fox has premiered his works at such prestigious venues as Tanglewood, Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and has served as the first African-American composer-in-residence with the St. Louis Symphony. Fox's fluency across genres has led to collaborations and recordings with the likes of David Murray, Oliver Lake, Quincy Troupe, Regina Carter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Maya Beiser and Hilary Hahn, along with the Richmond Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Among his many accolades, Fox is a Guggenheim Fellow, and a recent recipient of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award in Music.



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Video

Residency Information

Donal Fox - Selected Residencies

Selected Press

Selected Press Quotes The Boston Globe - Performance Review
Donal Fox Quartet at Regattabar Jazz
Get Classical - Feature Article
Donal Fox: Playing with the Classical Imperative
Boston Jazz Blog - Performance Review
Donal Fox Quartet at Scullers Jazz
Jazz Improv Magazine - Performance Review
Donal Fox Trio at Jazz at Lincoln Center
The Hartford Courant - Concert Preview
Donal Fox Quartet at Tanglewood Jazz
The Examiner - Performance Review
Donal Fox Solo w/ guest Maya Beiser at ICA/Boston
All About Jazz - Album Review
Donal Fox Quartet "Scarlatti Jazz Suite Project"
The New York Times - Review of Peace Out World Premiere at Carnegie Hall The Big City - Review of Peace Out World Premiere at Carnegie Hall The Berkshire Eagle - Performance Review
Donal Fox Quartet at Tanglewood Jazz
New Music Box - Feature Article
Critic Greg Sandow on "The Talented Mr. Fox"
The Arts Fuse - Performance Review
Donal Fox Solo w/ guest Maya Beiser at ICA/Boston
Giant Steps - Performance Review
Donal Fox Solo w/ guest Maya Beiser at ICA/Boston
All Music - Album Review
Donal Fox Quartet "Scarlatti Jazz Suite Project"
Aesop Register - Feature Article
Christopher Lydon on Donal Fox's Bach
The Berkshire Eagle - Concert Preview
Donal Fox Quartet at Tanglewood Jazz
DownBeat Magazine - Feature
Jazz on Campus: Donal Fox at MIT

Presenter Testimonials

Redfern Center Letter University of Vermont Letter

Photos


photo:
Kristophe Diaz

Ziegler headshot color JPEG
photo:
Liza Voll


photo :
Lou Jones


photo:
Lou Jones