Dan Tepfer
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Dan Tepfer
| image = Dan_Tepfer_Madrid.jpg
| landscape = yes
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1982|1|8}}
| birth_place = Paris, France
| origin =
| occupation = Musician
| instrument = Piano
| years_active = 2005–present
| label = Sunnyside, Verve, StorySound
| associated_acts = Lee Konitz, Ben Wendel
| website = {{URL|www.dantepfer.com}}
}}
Dan Tepfer (born 1982 in Paris, France) is a French-American jazz pianist and composer. He is best known for his 2011 album Goldberg Variations/Variations and his 2019 multimedia project Natural Machines.
Biography
Dan Tepfer grew up in Paris, France in a musical and scientific family. He received a bachelor's degree in astrophysics from the University of Edinburgh and a master's degree in jazz piano performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston.[http://www.dantepfer.com/press/images/Downbeat.pdf Downbeat Magazine feature on Dan Tepfer] He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he works as a pianist and composer.[http://www.dantepfer.com/press/images/Jazztimes.html JazzTimes feature on Dan Tepfer] He tours around the world, with frequent appearances in Europe in particular.[http://dantepfer.com/calendar Dan Tepfer tour schedule] Since 2009, he has released a series of critically acclaimed [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/arts/music/dan-tepfer-at-le-poisson-rouge.html New York Times review of Goldberg Variations/Variations] recordings on Sunnyside Records and Verve Records, working in trio, duo and solo formats.
One of his most frequent musical collaborations are duos with saxaphonists, including the legendary Lee Konitz, Grammy winner Miguel Zenon, Ben Wendel, and others. Tepfer's Natural Machines project, which combines video and audio technology with improvised piano playing{{Cite web |title=In Dan Tepfer’s World, Human and Machine Meet on Even Ground |url=https://www.sfcv.org/articles/review/dan-tepfers-world-human-and-machine-meet-even-ground |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=www.sfcv.org |language=en}}, will debut at NY's Carnegie Hall in 2025{{Cite web |date=2025-06-10 |title=Dan Tepfer House Concert Gives Insights into His Writing Process |url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/dan-tepfer |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=downbeat.com |language=en}} with an update that allows him to “play” an entire orchestra in real time. He has become a fixture in the NY live Jazz scene, at Jazz clubs and house concerts. {{Cite web |date=2025-06-10 |title=Dan Tepfer House Concert Gives Insights into His Writing Process |url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/dan-tepfer |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=downbeat.com |language=en}}
Awards and honors
- 2006: First Prize and Audience Prize, Montreux Jazz Festival Bösendorfer Solo Piano Competition
- 2007: Winner of American Piano Awards and Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz, American Piano Awards
- 2011: CHOC Jazz Magazine (France) for "Goldberg Variations / Variations"
- 2011 – 2013: Rising Star Pianist, Down Beat
- 2012 – 2013: Rising Star Pianist, JazzTimes
- 2014: Charles Ives Fellowship, American Academy of Arts and Letters
- 2016: MacDowell Fellowship, MacDowell Colony
- 2017: CHOC Jazz Magazine (France) for "Eleven Cages"
- 2018: Fondation BNP-Paribas 3-year artistic development award
Discography
- 2005: Before the Storm, with Richie Barshay and Jorge Roeder (DIZ)
- 2007: Oxygen, with Richie Barshay and Jorge Roeder (DIZ)
- 2009: Twelve Free Improvisations in Twelve Keys (DIZ)
- 2009: Duos with Lee, duo with Lee Konitz (Sunnyside)
- 2010: Five Pedals Deep, with Thomas Morgan and Ted Poor (Sunnyside)
- 2011: Goldberg Variations/Variations (Sunnyside)
- 2013: Small Constructions, with Ben Wendel (Sunnyside)
- 2014: First Meeting: Live in London, Volume 1 with Lee Konitz, Michael Janisch & Jeff Williams (Whirlwind)
- 2017: Eleven Cages, with Thomas Morgan and Nate Wood (Sunnyside)
- 2018: Decade, duo with Lee Konitz (Verve)
- 2019: Natural Machines, with real-time musical and visual algorithmic response (Sunnyside)
- 2023: Inventions / Reinventions (StorySound Records)
- 2023: Internal Melodies, with Miguel Zenon
With Billy Hart
- Sixty-Eight (SteepleChase, 2011)
Film Score
- Movement+Location
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://dantepfer.com Dan Tepfer Official Website]
- [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ytdgp French documentary of Konitz and Tepfer European tour]
- [https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/754542733/dan-tepfer-tiny-desk-concert?jwsource=cl NPR Tiny Desk Concert]
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Category:New England Conservatory alumni