American
Born: Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Bob Berkman has been associated with the player piano most of his life. After earning his BA in theater at Case Western Reserve University, he was hired in 1975 by QRS in Buffalo, N.Y., the world’s last piano roll manufacturer, where he produced innumerable reissues of historic roll recordings, maintained a constant flow of new recordings for over thirty years, and spearheaded the creation of a musical library for the emerging technology of digital player pianos. His credits include rolls commissioned for the films Ragtime, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Reds, the last in cooperation with composer Stephen Sondheim; appearances on NPR, the BBC, and CBS Sunday Morning; and the world pianola premieres of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Erik Satie’s Parade, the latter at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. Buffalo venues have included the Albright Knox Art Gallery, the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, Villa Maria College, and Baird Recital Hall at the University of Buffalo.
Berkman has earned an international reputation as a master pianolist, revealing the expressive capabilities of the instrument while showcasing its varied repertoire. His 1912 “push-up” pianola effectively turns any piano into a player piano, enabling him to perform on concert stages across the continent. Berkman also appears as one half of Duo Shiddach, a unique pianola/theremin-cello partnership with cellist Jonathan Golove. [1]
For more information on Bob Berkman, visit http://www.pianolaenterprises.com/index.html.
[1] Profile information adapted from http://www.wned.org/classical-94-5-wned-program-hosts/item/591-bob-berkman and http://www.pianolaenterprises.com/bio.html. (Accessed 9/17/2014)