Pablo Ziegler(Profile/Biography)
In 1978, Mr. Ziegler was invited to join Astor Piazzolla’s New Tango Quintet, and for over the next ten years, he performed with this group throughout Europe, Japan and North America, at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Nice Jazz Festival, Sapporo Jazz Festival, Central Park SummerStage, and the Istanbul Festival, among many others.
Pablo Ziegler formed his own Quartet for New Tango in 1990 and has been touring extensively throughout the world with his trio, quartet and quintet. Performances in recent seasons have included Carnegie Hall (as part of the JVC Jazz Festival with guest artists Paquito D’Rivera, Joe Lovano and Gary Burton), the Savannah Music Festival, Blue Note, UCLA, the University of Texas-Austin, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in Maryland, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Ravinia Festival, the International Festival of Arts & Ideas with pianist Christopher O’Riley in the duo Los Tangueros, the New World Symphony in Miami, New York’s Knitting Factory with Emanuel Ax, the Cape May Music Festival in New Jersey, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival among many others. Ziegler’s quintet has also been performing annually at the Jazz Standard in NYC since 2002 in the Tango Meets Jazz series produced by Pat Philips and Ettore Strata, with guest artists including Randy Brecker, Regina Carter, Paquito D’Rivera, Kenny Garrett, Stefon Harris, Joe Locke, Branford Marsalis, David Sanchez and Nestor Torres. Important international engagements have included the Umbria Jazz Festival (with guest artists Paquito D´Rivera, Joe Lovano and Richard Galliano), The Lapataia Jazz Festival in Punta del Este (Uruguay), and the Verbier Festival (Switzerland), as well as performances throughout Europe. He also performed at the Piano 2003 Festival in Manchester, UK, and has done 16 European tours to date.
A new program, Beyond Tango, was created by Pablo Ziegler for the Miami International Piano Festival in 2009. The evening includes works for two pianos progressing up to a large chamber ensemble playing Ziegler’s compositions with some of his own arrangements of Piazzolla, including the 2-piano pieces which he had recorded with Emanuel Ax for Sony Classical. This program was performed at Symphony Space in New York City and the Mondavi Center in April 2011.
Recently, the Pablo Ziegler Quartet performed Ettore Stratta’s Symphonic Tango Project with the Presidential Orchestra of Turkey. Mr. Ziegler recently served as music director on a Sony Music recording for bass-baritone Erwin Schrott. He was also the artist in residence at the Latin American Music Center of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and while there, performed during the Tango Festival.
His trio continues to tour extensively throughout the US and abroad including recent performances at the Lied Center in Nebraska, Arts! San Antonio, the Belleayre Music Festival in upstate New York, and Icicle Creek in Washington state. His Classical Tango Quartet performed a five night run at Birdland in New York City with special guest Sandra Luna. His Quintet also performed recently at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston, TX with special guest, Claudia Acuña. In November, 2011 Pablo Ziegler and Paquito D’Rivera celebrated The Music of Astor Piazzolla at Jazz at Lincoln Center Music of the Masters series.
February, 2012 saw the New York premiere of Pablo Ziegler and Maya Beiser’s Canyengue at Le Poisson Rouge. Mr. Ziegler’s Classical Quartet will return to Beaches Fine Arts Series in Jacksonville, Florida to celebrate their 40th Anniversary Season in March of 2013.