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Joseph Brent has brought a consummate artistry and dedication to several musical disciplines, genres, and even instruments.
Graduating from the Berklee College of Music in 1999 with a focus on contemporary music, he immediately began working closely with many of the great modern composers, having premiered or performed works by Elliot Carter, Pierre Boulez, Magnus Lindberg, Olga Neuwirth, and Nathan Davis, among many others, and has lectured on contemporary music at New York's Museum of Modern Art. He has performed with many well-known chamber ensembles in New York, including The International Contemporary Ensemble, Argento Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, Fireworks Music, and Henry Street Chamber Opera. Concurrently, he is thoroughly versed in the traditional orchestral repertoire, performing regularly with The American Symphony Orchestra, New York City Ballet, New Jersey Symphony, The Juilliard Opera and Ballet Orchestras, the New England Philharmonic Ensemble, and the Chelsea Symphony. As a solo artist, he has given recitals and clinics across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2001. In 2007, he was featured soloist with the Orchestra a Pizzico Ligure in several performances throughout northern Italy, and performed in the Miller Theatre portrait of Elliot Carter, conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky, in celebration of the composer's 99th birthday. In 2008, he was a featured performer and clinician at the Classical Mandolin Society of America annual convention in Montreal, and performed an all-Carter program at the Tanglewood Music Festival under the baton of Oliver Knussen. He has commissioned works from many great composers, including Hiroya Miura, Pablo Santiago Chin, Andrew Gerle, David Gilliland, and Victor Kioulaphides. In 2007, his two books of mandolin pedagogy, Scales and Arpeggios for the Mandolin and Orchestral and Chamber Excerpts for Mandolin were published by Lulu to great acclaim. His first CD, Point of Departure, was released in 2008, featuring duets with harp virtuoso Bridget Kibbey and repertoire ranging from Baroque to Contemporary.
Simultaneously, he has maintained an active career in popular and improvising music. He has performed with Woody Allen, Stephane Grappelli, Alice and Ravi Coltrane, Tommy Tune, Sam Moore (from Sam and Dave), Kevn Kinney, and maintained a monthly set at legendary jazz club Birdland with Nancy Anderson. He has also been seen in the pits of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows Spring Awakening, Pirate Queen, Hairspray, Urban Cowboy, Big River (National Tour), and dozens of others. He also plays with several rock and roots music artists in and around New York, including his favorites Andi Rae Healy, Alex Sweeton, Ann Klein, and Julius.
He has also been active as a composer, arranger, and orchestrator. He has composed music for Toy Box Theatre Dance Company, and his large-scale work 'Firebird' was selected for ERM Media's 'Masterworks of the New Century' compilation. He has orchestrated and arranged music for The Boston Pops, Andrea McArdle, Rockapella, Duncan Sheik, and the Off-Broadway shows Roadside, Tale of Two Cities, and Orpheus.
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