Composer Profile: Eric Charnofsky

Eric Charnofsky is like a musician from an earlier era–one who is equal parts performer and composer. An active pianist of formidable skills–you might have heard him perform with the LA Phil during its 2000-01 season, when he was a finalist for the orchestra’s keyboard position–he is also a prolific composer. Add to that his life teaching full-time, at Case Western Reserve University where he teaches 20th century music history and keyboard ensemble courses, and at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he teaches symphonic literature, and you have an extremely active musical life.

And there is more… “For a long time I was the choir conductor at a church in Cleveland, and one of the things I did there was to create a recital series. We had five concerts a year that I would program, promote, perform on, and give pre-concert talks for. It was a mixed bag of music that included the piano.” Not one to sit back and do nothing, he is currently looking for another opportunity for a recital series.

I saw the groundwork being laid for this life many years ago, when Eric was 12 or 13, and his piano teacher, Tania Agins, asked me to teach him theory and composition. He remained my student until he went off to college at CSU Northridge, where he majored in both composition and piano, studying composition with Frank Campo and Daniel Kessner and piano with Francoise Regnat. From there he went on to Juilliard, where he studied accompanying and eventually served as staff accompanist and ear-training fellow in the Juilliard College division.

We talked a lot about the connections and the impact of his various activities, how being a performer and a teacher influence his composing, and vice-versa.

“For me, teaching, performing, and composing are all interrelated,” he told me. “I’ve grappled with balancing these since you knew me back in high school, and it’s always been challenging. When I am composing, it’s difficult if I have to grab 20 minutes here and there in the midst of the other things I do. It’s easier for me when I have a block of time without so much pressure, so I generally don’t compose when I have a lot of other obligations. I find that composing is usually a summer or winter break activity.

“But my other musical activities help inform my composing, because when I am performing and teaching, I am always using the tools of music. The students I teach in the classroom appreciate that connection. They are making music all of the time–practicing, rehearsing in ensembles, and performing–and it helps them, knowing that I bring with me the insights of one who is an experienced performer and composer. I can’t imagine not being both of those in my life.

“All of the teachers I studied with were active performers, and I learned as much, if not more, when they demonstrated as when they would describe what they were after. I also learned an awful lot from playing as a lesson pianist while I was at Juilliard–for example, for students of violinist Cho-Liang Lin. I often played with him at lessons, when he wanted to demonstrate something to the student, and I learned so much from him in the process, not only about performing, but about the violin.

“Also, a lot of composers who are not performers often write music that is not performable. If they do not have the hands-on experience of performing, they might write music that is not idiomatic. As one who performs a lot of new music, I gravitate more to what I consider organic, performer-friendly music.”

As a performer, most of what he plays is collaborative–everything from playing on chamber music series, playing keyboard with local orchestras, playing recitals with singers and instrumentalists, and concerts of his own devising.

When I asked about influences of past composers on his own music, he said that he takes some inspiration from Stravinsky, Hindemith, Bartók, and Ravel, and going back farther, from Bach and Beethoven. “I also notice that when I am performing, that music will inform the music I am writing. Inevitably your musical environment will make a statement in the music you are writing.”

Since he spent his formative years in Los Angeles but has lived his adult life in New York and Ohio, I asked him about the differences between his early and current environs and if he missed living in LA. He told me, “Other than the comfort of nice weather and of my family, with whom I remain connected, I lost most of my professional connections with Los Angeles. Though my training through college was there, I entered the music profession after I left. Cleveland is not someplace I dreamed of being, but opportunities here are plentiful. It’s a smaller musical environment than Los Angeles, but a very active, vibrant one. Partly because of the Cleveland Orchestra, there are many great musicians here. Geographically, it’s much more centralized than LA, and it is a musical environment that is very enriching. I am very active with Chamber Music Society of Ohio and the Cleveland Composers Guild [an organization of some 40 composers which puts on numerous concerts annually of its members’ music]. So, though I do miss California, it’s more personal than professional.”

About his new piano quintet, which Pacific Serenades commissioned and will be premiering on our upcoming concerts, he told me, “The title, 5 by 5, represents the number of performers and the number of movements. I’ve also designed each movement to feature a different one of the five instrumentalists and a particular musical interval. The fourth movement, Meditation, has an interesting background: it is based on a score I composed for the same instrumentation back in 1989, for a film called Meditations on a Suicide.

“My main inspirations were knowing who the outstanding performers were to be and the legacy of Pacific Serenades. I wanted to take a very traditional ensemble (the piano quintet) with a long history of repertoire and write something refreshing and new that was musically enriching for listeners. The work has a lot of character and is meant to be fun and memorable!”

Having known Eric primarily during his teenage years, but staying in touch and being well aware of his accomplishments over the subsequent years, it gives me great pleasure to welcome him back to his home, Los Angeles, for the premiere of his new work,
5 by 5.

I can’t wait to hear it!