Antonio Fermin, piano

Antonio Fermin has performed extensively throughout Europe, Japan, Middle East and South America in both solo and concert. The Aspen Music Festival, Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall.  Soloist with The New York Chamber Sinfonia, The New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble. Participated as soloist with Sonidos de las Américas (1994) sponsored by the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.  He participated, accompanied by the Cuarteto Latinoamericano in the festival “Sounds of the Américas: Venezuela” celebrated in 1994 at Carnegie Hall in the American premiere of the Divertimento for Piano and Strings by Gonzalo Castellanos.  Earlier, in this same New York hall, he performed, together with the flautist Bradley Garner, the world premiere of the Sonata Dialogue for flute and piano by the Russian composer Nina Aksen.  Since 1983, the date of his debut in New York’s Merkin Hall, Antonio Fermín has traveled extensively, offering recitals and concerts on such various stages as Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Jordan Hall in Boston, the Aula Magna in Caracas, Casa de la Cultura Cubana in Prague, Bolivar Hall in London, Palacio de la Historia in Lima, and the Venezuelan Embassy in Moscow. As a soloist he has performed in Venezuela with the Simón Bolívar orchestra, the Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas, the Filarmónica de Mérida, the Filarmónica Nacional y Sinfónica de Maracaibo. In the United States he has presented with the New England Conservatory Orchestra, the New York Chamber Sinfonia, the American Composers Orchestra, the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival. Antonio Fermín has been awarded distinctions of merit from the Organización de Estados Americanos, Harvard University and leading critics on behalf of the New York Times and Musical America. He currently concentrates on recording and broadcasting the piano work of Latin-American composers of the Twentieth Century—he holds as a priority the recording of the complete works of Venezuelan Modesta Bor, which includes works for solo piano, chamber and piano works, and works for voice and piano. An authority on curriculum development, Dr. Fermín has worked closely with music specialists, classroom teachers, and administrators in a wide range of pedagogical issues, from creating, implementing, and assessing curriculum development to integrating strategies to strengthen students’ performance from diverse backgrounds. He has designed programs for Carnegie Hall’s Education Department, The Aspen Music Festival and School, McGraw-Hill Publishers, and Scholastic, Inc., among others. For the past 25 years, he has developed comprehensive music curricula for grades Pre-K-12 reflecting effective experimental and progressive approaches.  As Manager of Educational Programs at Carnegie Hall, Dr. Fermín developed and implemented programs to motivate young audiences, including providing New York City public school teachers with the appropriate pedagogical workshops and strategies to advance their teaching skills.  He has established educational partnerships with The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Musical Instruments Department and the Miyazaki Music Festival in Japan.  In addition, Dr. Fermín has led extensive workshops for teachers focusing on cross-curricular integration and distance-education.  As a soloist, he has participated in The Aspen Music Festival, Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, Alice Tully Hall, Sonidos de las Américas (1994) sponsored by the American  Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, The New York Chamber Sinfonia, and The New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble. Antonio Fermin holds a Ph.D. from New York University; a Masters of Music from The Juilliard School and a Bachelors of Music with Honors from the New England Conservatory. Piano studies with Harriet Serr, Victor Rosenbaum, Sascha Gorodnitzki and Herbert Stessin. Composition studies with Modesta Bor and John Heiss. Graduate Teaching Fellowship, The Juilliard School, 1980-82. Visiting Fellow, Harvard University, 1985-86; Doctoral Fellow, Organization of American States, 1982-85; Adjunct Instructor, New York University, 1982-84. Music Education faculty, Hampton Day School, Columbia Grammar and Prep School, 1987-1996. Piano faculty member, The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, 1991-2003.  He was recently appointed to the Advisory Board at Scholastic, Inc., a global children's publishing, education and media company.