“Prepare to be surprised” (Classical Archives) by pianist, arranger, and teacher Eleonor Bindman. Known worldwide for “Bach playing of the highest order” (Pianodao) after releasing recordings of her original transcriptions of J.S. Bach, Bindman combines her passions of teaching and performing to bring great new repertoire to piano lovers of all kinds through her transcriptions, scores, and recordings.
Bindman’s recording of her arrangement of the J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concertos for Piano Duet with pianist Jenny Lin was declared “breathtaking in its sheer precision and vitality” by Pianist Magazine and quickly became the best-selling album for the label, Grand Piano, in 2018. The scores of the Brandenburg Duets are available from Naxos Publishing and the printed versions are published by “Muzyka” Edition. The success and reach of the Brandenburg Duets led Bindman to create, Stepping Stones to Bach, a set of 48 easy/intermediate piano arrangements of J.S. Bach orchestral masterworks. Then came the unprecedented J.S. Bach: Cello Suites for Solo Piano, an accurate piano transcription of Bach’s iconic set which was recorded in 2020 and made its debut on the Billboard® Traditional Classical Charts at #7.
Ms. Bindman’s discography includes Tchaikovsky: The Seasons on MSR Classics and her debut recording “Three works by Modest Mussorgsky.” Both feature her own transcriptions. She also released Out of the Blue with pianist Susan Sobolewski under the name Duo Vivace, which presents two-piano and four-hand works by Gustav Holst, Leonard Bernstein, and George Gershwin.
Ms. Bindman’s transcriptions can be found internationally in print and electronic form. The Bach arrangements are available from Muzyka/P.Jurgenson edition and Naxos Publishing. Her piano version of Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountain and a set of original compositions for children, An American Calendar are published by Carl Fischer, Inc.
Spring 2022 brought the solo release of J.S. Bach’s Complete Partitas for Keyboard on the Delos label. In presenting the diverse body of work which the great composer himself published as his “Opus 1”, Bindman conveys “Bach’s life energy with impressive, pedal-free precision and instantaneous drive” (Rondo Magazin).
Fall 2022 brought a complement to the Brandenburg Duets in the form of piano duet arrangements of Bach’s complete Orchestral Suites. Released on Naxos’ Grand Piano Label, the recordings feature Bindman and her Duo Vivace partner, Susan Sobolewski. Bindman’s transcriptions draw upon the suite’s dance movements to suggest how Bach might have distributed the material, ordering them for maximum contrast, to convey the music’s vitality and beauty in a new medium.
Eleonor Bindman is currently based in New York City, where she is an active recording artist, performer, and teacher.