Acclaim for composer Patrick Zimmerli

“The score’s irresistible energy seemed to come from everywhere: classical forms, jazz harmonies, and Arvo Pärt-like meditativeness, were all on tap, and the last bars were pure Romanticism.” —The New York Times review of Piano Trio No 1 

“Zimmerli takes familiar elements from 19th-century classical music and the standard sequences of jazz and pop, adds ethnic influences and has a sharp talent for a catchy tune...His motifs are meticulously developed and his textures atmospheric. With boundaries blurred even familiar idioms could surprise. The zippy finale, ‘Fireworks’, deftly captured the lulls and highs of a pyrotechnic display, its cross-pollinated ensemble virtuosities and features for all winning a deserved encore.” —London Financial Times review of Aspects of Darkness and Light 

“a major accomplishment...a highly structured, optimistic work that begins with abstract note permutations, runs through a course of mind-bending variations and ends on a strong, singable melody.” —DownBeat review of Clockworks 

“Zimmerli’s compositions, with their busy palettes, intricate cross-keyboard dialogues, and contrapuntal studies are deeply satisfying. His sense of melody is found in rhythmic approaches; his tonal shifts are especially notable for their ability to play off both pianist’s technical and melodic gifts...” —AllMusicGuide review of Modern Music 

“This composer and saxophonist pursues a heady idiom that melds the spontaneity and exuberance of jazz with the complexity and rigor of the modernist composers he admires.” –The New Yorker review of Clockworks 

“Mr. Zimmerli’s writing is intricately plotted; where there’s space for improvisation he lays useful traps, seeking to thwart the reflexive fluency of his players. What sticks out is the feverish concentration of the whole enterprise.” The New York Times review Modern Music 

“...marvelous lyrical, witty and emotive suite...engaging songs teeming with improvisational flair and in some stretches polyrhythmic glee...More spins recommended.” – Dan Ouellette/ ZealNYC review of Clockworks 

“However melodically and rhythmically advanced his compositions are, this cerebral artist doesn’t lose sight of the music’s need to engage the listener viscerally. Zimmerli’s music swings!” – Textura review of Shores Against Silence 

“Critic’s Pick...I appreciate not only the elaborate network of gears and levers in constant motion, but ultimately the fascinating beauty of the whole thing, in both form and function. Using time as its basic material, Clockworks is a program of profound music, deeply rooted in a jazz aesthetic, that will be enjoyable to even the least mathematically minded listeners among us.” – DownBeat review of Clockworks 

< Lucia Joyce