Overview

While other kids were enjoying the head-bashing pleasures of tackle football, a freshly bar mitzvahed Steven Blier was inhaling operas and getting his first taste of accompanying professional singers. From Ear to Ear recounts his picaresque and unfailingly entertaining road to a successful career as a collaborative pianist, bringing to life his partnerships with iconic performers like Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Jessye Norman, Cecilia Bartoli, and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and beloved mentors, including Alvin Epstein and Martha Schlamme. Drawing on his innovative work as a vocal coach and concert producer with his acclaimed New York Festival of Song, he takes readers deep into his artistic process. But Blier also tells a parallel story: his lifelong battle with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Aided by his intense determination, as well as his wry sense of humor, Blier continues his life at the piano. As Adam Gopnik writes in his foreword, From Ear to Ear is ""genuinely heroic, a testament to the power of music.""

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9781324005483

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Reviews

Blier's humanity and delicacy of spirit are palpable on every page -- as well as, crucially, his innate hilarity. With seeming effortlessness, Steven conveys the mad euphoria of music-making; his deep connections with an array of colleagues, friends, and lovers; and the daunting challenges of fighting the demon tormenting his body.--Jamie Bernstein, author of Famous Father Girl Deeply felt and full of telling personal detail. Blier captures the fragility of musical awakening in a music memoir for musicians (and others) to treasure.--Jeremy Denk, author of Every Good Boy Does Fine Delightful, lively, and intimate....A memoir that brings music and singing to life.-- ""Kirkus Reviews"" Steven Blier was one of my very first concert collaborators. The stories of incredible singers in venues all around the world in this gorgeous memoir gives me the feeling of being a part of New York music history.--Kelli O'Hara, Tony Award winning and Emmy and Grammy nominated actress Steven Blier's career has been an invaluable gift to the art of song in the US. His delightful memoir illuminates this subtle, powerful art form in terms that will engage anyone from professional musicians to armchair listeners. If you love songs (and who doesn't?) you will want to read this book.--Renée Fleming, Grammy Award-winning Soprano and author of Music and Mind This book should be required reading not just for performers of all kinds, but also for those who love them and those who are their audiences.--Peter Kazaras, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music at UCLA, stage director, and performer Witty, naughty, passionate, inspiring, brimming with insights, artistry and love--that's Steve Blier, and that's this beautiful book. A miraculous musical life.--David Hyde Pierce, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor and director From Ear to Ear overflows with the same wit and charm Steve Blier brings to the stage. He makes you feel like family.--Sasha Cooke, Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano I have spent many hours learning from Steven Blier in the rehearsal studio, on the concert stage, and at his kitchen table. Still, as I devoured the wisdom, wit, honesty, and humanity of From Ear to Ear, I felt that I was meeting Steve for the first time. Effortlessly good-humored and rich with musical insight, Steven's storytelling is as warm on the page as it is from the stage. A must read for any artist, as it testifies to the power of individuality, grit, and passion in the face of adversity.--Peter Dugan, concert pianist and host of NPR's ""From the Top

Deeply felt and full of telling personal detail. Steven Blier captures the fragility of musical awakening in a music memoir for musicians (and others) to treasure.--Jeremy Denk, author of Every Good Boy Does Fine Steven Blier was one of my very first concert collaborators. The stories of incredible singers in venues all around the world in this gorgeous memoir give me the feeling of being a part of New York music history.--Kelli O'Hara, Tony Award-winning and Emmy and Grammy-nominated actress Steven Blier's career has been an invaluable gift to the art of song in the United States. His delightful memoir illuminates this subtle, powerful art form in terms that will engage anyone from professional musicians to armchair listeners. If you love songs (and who doesn't?) you will want to read this book.--Renée Fleming, Grammy Award-winning Soprano and editor of Music and Mind Steven Blier's humanity and delicacy of spirit are palpable on every page--as well as, crucially, his innate hilarity. With seeming effortlessness, Steven conveys the mad euphoria of music-making; his deep connections with an array of colleagues, friends, and lovers; and the daunting challenges of fighting the demon tormenting his body.--Jamie Bernstein, author of Famous Father Girl Delightful, lively, and intimate....A memoir that brings music and singing to life.-- ""Kirkus Reviews"" This book should be required reading not just for performers of all kinds, but also for those who love them and those who are their audiences.--Peter Kazaras, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music at UCLA, stage director, and performer Witty, naughty, passionate, inspiring, brimming with insights, artistry and love--that's Steve Blier, and that's this beautiful book. A miraculous musical life.--David Hyde Pierce, Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor and director I have spent many hours learning from Steven Blier in the rehearsal studio, on the concert stage, and at his kitchen table. Still, as I devoured the wisdom, wit, honesty, and humanity of From Ear to Ear, I felt that I was meeting Steve for the first time. Effortlessly good-humored and rich with musical insight, Steven's storytelling is as warm on the page as it is from the stage. A must read for any artist, as it testifies to the power of individuality, grit, and passion in the face of adversity. --Peter Dugan, concert pianist and host of NPR's ""From the Top"" From Ear to Ear overflows with the same wit and charm Steve Blier brings to the stage. He makes you feel like family.--Sasha Cooke, Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano

Author Information

Steven Blier is a Grammy Award–winning pianist, acclaimed accompanist, and co-founder and artistic director of the New York Festival of Song. He has taught at the Juilliard School since 1992 and lives in New York City. Adam Gopnik is a staff writer at The New Yorker and has written for the magazine since 1986. He has three National Magazine awards for essays and for criticism. The author of numerous best-selling books, including Paris to the Moon, he lives in New York City.

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