Loading...
Creator
Schimmel, William
Call number
*L (Special) 17-01
Physical description
0.21 linear feet (1 box)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
William Schimmel video recordings, Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library
Repository
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

William Schimmel (1946 - ) is an American accordionist and composer, credited with the resurgence of the accordion as an instrument in modern music, as well as the revival of tango in the United States. The William Schimmel video recordings, dating from 1995 to 2013, mainly document the annual three-day masterclass and concert series Schimmel curates in New York City, presented by the American Accordionists' Association. The collection also contains bound books containing copies of the masterclass and concert programs, as well as clippings and flyers documenting the events.

Biographical/historical information

William Schimmel (1946 - ) is an American accordionist and composer, credited with the resurgence of the accordion as an instrument in modern music, as well as the revival of tango in the United States.

Schimmel grew up in Philadelphia in a family with many accordionists. He studied at the Neupauer Conservatory of Music before attending the Juilliard School, where he received bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees in composition. In addition to his own material, Schimmel began performing the work of his fellow students, and his reputation was such that he was selected by Luciano Berio to perform on a recording of Kurt Weill songs Berio arranged for the vocalist Cathy Berberian.

Schimmel worked in theater following his graduation, including in La Mama's production of Aristophanes' The Birds (1979), but he gained greater fame when he and several friends recorded The Tango Project for Nonesuch records in 1982. The album became a major hit, was nominated for a Grammy award, and sparked a new popularity for tango. It also boosted Schimmel's career, and he began working with a wide variety of artists. He has collaborated with many symphony orchestras in the United States and internationally; appeared as a soloist, as well as in chamber groups; commissioned and premiered hundreds of new works for accordion; worked with jazz artists, as well as with Jazz At Lincoln Center; and collaborated with popular artists such as Tom Waits and Sting. His work has also appeared on many film and television soundtracks.

Schimmel has maintained a busy career as an educator, teaching at Juilliard, Brooklyn College, the New School University, New York University, and many other conservatories and universities around the country; he is also the Dean of the Neupauer Conservatory. Under the auspices of the American Accordionists' Association, in which he is highly active, Schimmel has since 1995 presented an annual three-day series of master classes and concerts held every summer at the Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, featuring many accordionists and a wide variety of other musicians and composers.

Schimmel is married to the choreographer and director Micki Goodman, with whom he has collaborated on music, dance, and theater pieces.

Scope and arrangement

The William Schimmel video recordings, dating from 1995 to 2013, mainly document the annual three-day masterclass and concert series Schimmel curates in New York City, presented by the American Accordionists' Association (AAA).

The recordings of the AAA masterclass and concert series date from 1995 to 2010. In addition to the videos, two bound books document these events through copies of programs, clippings, and flyers; these books date from 1995 to 2013. Each annual series consists of three masterclasses and concerts, and includes lectures, demonstrations, and performances. The music is by Schimmel, his students, and many other musicians and composers; some of the performances of commissioned music are world premieres. Musicians and composers appearing in the programs include Anne DeMarinis, Michael Sahl, Paul Stein, William Blount, Godfrey Nelson, Kirk Nurock, The Tango Project, Lorraine Nelson Wolf, Elsie M. Bennett, Rita Davidson Barnea, Kevin Friedrich, Will Holshouser, Kamala Sankaram, Ray Rue, Benjamin Ickes, Maria Sonevytsky, Carl Riehl, Marni Rice, David Stoler, and many others.

Among the themes and topics explored in the masterclasses are "The Accordion as Film Score," "Should New Music Entertain," "Polka Varieties," "Accordi-Swing," "The Built-In Ironic Quality," "Psychomotor Development in Jazz," "The Accordion in the Labor Movement," "Accordion and the Stand Up Comic," "Indie Rock and the Accordion," "Ayn Rand's Anthem and the Accordion," "A History of the Accordion Concerto," and "The Accordion in the Mummer's Day Parade."

The recordings also hold a performance by The Tango Project; The Unforgivable Sin: The Plight of an Accordionist, a video work by Micki Goodman; SHAMAN II / Bass Accordion Suite, a Micki Goodman/William Schimmel collaboration; and the 2001 graduation ceremony of the Neupauer Conservatory of Music.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically. The recordings of the masterclasses and concerts are arranged chronologically.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by William Schimmel, 2017.

Processing information

Processed by Matthew Snyder in 2019.

Using the collection

Location

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Access restrictions

Video recordings are unavailable pending digitization.