Pianist Paul Orgel joined forces with Vermont Public Radio to create a project called "Alchemy of Genius," pairing selected Nocturnes by Frederic Chopin with Preludes and Fugues by J.S. Bach from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II. All of the recordings plus some insights into these two composers and their works are available here.
Paul Orgel has concertized throughout the United States, Europe, and China as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra and chamber musician. Critics have praised his playing for its “subtlety and attention to nuance” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “rare pathos” (New York Times), “brilliant technique, sense of humor and fantasy” (Bridgeport Post), “warmth and beauty of sound” (Barre-Montpelier Times Argus), and “power and grace” (Vermont Times). A versatile musician with wide- ranging interests and a varied repertoire, he has given notable concerts in such venues as New York’s Merkin Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Jordan Hall and the Gardner Museum in Boston, the Ordway Theater in St. Paul and at the San Francisco Conservatory.
Orgel has specialized in Czech music, performing programs of the complete piano music of Janá?ek, and music from Terezin, and as a scholar of classical performance practice, he has given recitals of Beethoven and Haydn on the Viennese fortepiano. Orgel can be heard on recordings on CRI, (the Grammy nominated “Music of Louis Moyse”, with flutist Karen Kevra), Capstone, Phoenix USA (Piano Music of Berman, Haas, Klein, and Ullmann) and MSR (Suk, Chausson, and Reger).
Paul Orgel was educated at the Oberlin and New England Conservatories, and Boston University. He holds a doctorate in piano performance from Temple University. Among his piano teachers were Russell Sherman, Irwin and Lillian Freundlich, and Harvey Wedeen. Former piano faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Wesleyan University, Swarthmore and Haverford Colleges.
He is currently a member of the keyboard faculty at the University of Vermont , a piano faculty member of the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival. Advanced students from his private studio in northern Vermont have, for many years, been among the state’s most frequent winners of competitions and auditions.
