Pianist and bestselling author Jeremy Denk eager for San Diego concert return

By Beth WoodContributor

May 19, 2024 6 AM PT

One of America’s top-tier classical pianists, Jeremy Denk has toured the world for almost three decades as a soloist and as a collaborator with violinist Joshua Bell and other luminaries. Denk has performed works by everyone from Bach and Mozart to such living composers as John Corigliano and Anna Clyne.

The pianist also wrote a New York Times bestselling memoir, “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” in 2022. Subtitled “A Love Story, in Music Lessons,” the book explores the inner workings of music, as well as Denk’s life as a child and piano student.

“I always joke that I was a pianist and then added the one profession that is even more solitary and neurotic (writing). I must be a glutton for punishment!” Denk, 54, said with a laugh, speaking from a friend’s house in London between concerts.

“The book required the extra task of describing music, without getting into lots of jargon. If I can describe a passage of music in a way that anyone could understand, I get a kick out of that,” he said. “Once I was walking around London, and suddenly this music student stops me and she’s like: ‘Oh, I read your book. And it made me feel less alone as a young musician.’ That kind of thing makes me happy.”

A member of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Denk has recorded almost 20 albums, including 2021’s “Mozart Piano Concertos.” In 2010, a New York Times critic enthused: “Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear, no matter what he performs.” Three years later, the same critic wrote: “Now I’ll add that he is a pianist whose fresh insights in familiar territory warrant continued acquaintance.”

Expect fresh insights when Denk performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58, with the San Diego Symphony on Saturday at The Rady Shell in Jacobs Park downtown. Rafael Payare, the symphony’s music director, will conduct. The two shared the stage for the first time last summer with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, which Payare also leads.

And though it’s not a “blind date,” as Denk put it, for him and the conductor, it has been almost a decade since Denk has played with the San Diego Symphony.

“This is one of my very favorite pieces to play,” Denk said of the Beethoven concerto. “And I can’t wait to play with this orchestra again. I’m very excited.”

‘A pain in the butt’

Over the phone, Denk used a nearby piano to demonstrate that the Fourth Piano Concerto’s first movement is based on the same rhythmic pattern as the famous da-da-da-DAH notes that begin the Fifth Symphony.

“It’s amazing to me and so touching that the same rhythms suggested to him these two incredibly opposed (musical) characters,” Denk said. “From storming Beethoven character with wild hair and then you have this childlike, playful Beethoven.”

An excellent pianist himself, Beethoven was not concerned about how tricky or arduous the piece would be for other performers.

“There’s always an element of awkwardness and difficulty that becomes part of the musical expression for Beethoven,” Denk noted. “He likes to leap off into the top part of the keyboard and suddenly do some weird voicing or create passages that are treacherous and demanding. He has a special instinct for finding this combination of technical awkwardness and expressive density.

“In other words, he’s a pain in the butt! But he knew that.”

The second half of Saturday’s concert will be devoted to The Firebird by Stravinsky, which Payare will also conduct.

Based on Russian folklore, the story is about a villainous ogre who is confronted by a beautiful, magical bird with flame-like feathers. The orchestra will play the complete score, which Stravinsky originally composed as a ballet.

On the Rady Shell’s video screen behind the orchestra, an animated film —, with art by Hillary Leben and projection design by Mike Tutaj — will play during The Firebird. As with many of the Symphony’s film projects, this was guided by the symphony’s longtime creative consultant, Gerard McBurney.

Negotiating hoodies

Denk grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico, not far from the village of Hatch, which is famous for its smoky-sweet red and green chiles.

“I get homesick for that a lot, Denk said. “But the main thing about Las Cruces was the nurturing community of classical music people there, who were keeping the flame alive in that college town. They took me under their wings.”

Denk graduated from Oberlin College, Indiana University and the Juilliard School. He is based in New York City. Despite the many concerts he’s performed, he has often faced sartorial dilemmas.

“You have no idea how hard it is to get an elegant-looking jacket that doesn’t constrict your arms when you’re playing the piano,” he said. “Comfort is a huge thing. I’ve finally found a jacket that fits well, one I don’t notice wearing when I’m on stage, which is great.”

For his instructional and book-related videos, Denk dresses more casually. He considers hoodies his security blankets and admits occasionally stealing them from his longtime boyfriend.

“He’s in tech, so he wears hoodies as part of his normal office uniform,” Denk said. “We steal a lot of each other’s hoodies. We have continuous hoodie negotiations.”