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Guernica Piano Concerto:
"based on Picasso's masterpiece, Guernica... Picasso created a painting of pain and suffering, a masterpiece of anti-war expression with few equals...Kaufman has created a nearly equally powerfull work for piano & orchestra...a three movement work of great modernist power, strongly dossonant and dynamically forcefull, equally despairing at times, mournful and in the end transcendent. Harrowing yet very beautiful...is music of brilliance... Gapplegate Classical Music Reviews

"this twenty minute plus concerto is exciting, unusual and riveting"... Babbysue Magazine

"Kaufman's "Guernica Concerto is a brilliant, emotional, passionate and vivid piece of music...the Concerto was the piece de resistance (of the concert)"... The Musical Review, Prague

"a poignant work...this is a composition written in the soul"... Songorama Magazine (in Spanish)

"Fredrick Kaufman resonantes with worldwide audiences through impassioned and prolific compositions that go beyond mere interpretation. He throughaly digests inspiration, internalizing and individualizing his ideas to create moving and impactful works that do more then relay a message - Kaufman's music captures feeling and emotion, reaching the listener with convincing sincerity"... Music & Vision

Seascape:
“fresh proof that Kaufman has a sensitive interior life. His sea is all seething emotional undercurrents, with strings faced off in opposing groups, and flecked with harp, celeste and mallet percussion. You glimpse ominous depths through the shivering surface of this intense music…” (The Miami Herald)

“inspired by the natural elements of the ocean, the work for string ensemble, harp and percussion is an intriguing essay in sound painting, with gentle aphoristic string fragments set against piquant xylophone and percussion writing.” (Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel)

"a remarkable piece of orchestral percussion (writing) that describes the poignant and powerful seascape. (Sonograma Magazine)

"the dreamiest of Kaufman's compositions...subtle and experimental in overall sound and style. (Babysue Magazine)

"a refreshing contrast from the preceeding works and shows another side of this important composer". (Gapplegate Calssical Music Review)

Clarinet Concerto:
"destined to enter the ranks of the standard classical repertoire" (New York Times)

Metamorphosis for Piano:
"a seasoned professional with much to say and the means with which to say it" (Miami Herald)

When the Twain Meet:
"one of the most important works of the 20th century" (London Times)

“effective use of timbre as a structural element in music ... made much show of vivid rhythmic patterns in the brass and percussion" (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Cello Concerto. "Kaddish":
"features string writing of striking sophistication ... there are moments where you can only hold your breath for the eloquence of it all ... contains some of the finest most expressive writing for strings to be heard today" (Newark Star Ledger)

"the overall effect brought one into the realm of musical genius" (Trenton /Union Leader)

The Nothing Ballet:
"A tour de force ... Zubin Mehta, the Israel Philharmonic, the Batsheva Dance Company all playing Kaufman ... wonderful" (Jerusalem Post)

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra:
"terrific intensity, in which the sustained, almost wailing cello is contrasted with violent, percussive outbursts from the orchestra. Kaufman's score has a sincere, strongly emotional impact" (The Miami Herald)

"without the least doubt, this is the most important work that has been written for the victims of the Holocaust ... bases it's power on precise instrumental context & brilliant thematic development" (Dominican Republic Listin Diario)

“maintains its course of beautiful intensity in the midst of explosions and lightning flashes of violence. More then a lament, it is a prayer, a song of a river that overflows all obstacles in order to unite itself with the universal" (South American magazine La Orta)

"commemorates the Holocaust with anguish, rage and reflection. The work is big, tuneful, beautifully constructed and orchestrated" (Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel)

A/V Slide Show:
“Amazing” (Mark Hetzler, trombone, The Empire Brass)

A Bud for Bloom:
“strong responses.... obviously written by a composer who has an international reputation comparable to [George] Crumb's" (Philadelphia Welcomat)

Mobile String Quartet:
"ingenious assembly of brief instrumental segments that showcase the four instruments in a relentless interplay of shifting meters and timbres that simulate an aural Mobile especially if you shut your eyes" (Miami Herald)

"inspired by Alexander Calder's mobiles, thematic ideas twirl around, sometimes connecting, sometimes flying off in independent directions. Kaufman holds the intricate material together in arresting fashion." (Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel)

Catalan Concertante:
"striking, biting, driving rhythmic force of wild proportion" (Perpignan Independent)

“a savory, atmospheric, fascinating quartet" (Miami Herald)

Aaronson Clarinet Quintet:
"masterful, tightly written in a sweet sour style reminiscent of Bartok in the haunting string tremelos that precede skirmishes from the solo clarinet" (Miami Herald)

Fredrick Kaufman's compositions are available through Theodore Presser, Warner Brothers, The Fleisher Collection of the Philadelphia Public Library and United Artists. He has recorded for MMC, Centurion, Warner Bros., Klavier, United Artists, Orien & St. Cyprien record companies.

Mobiles:
“amazing string writing…a masterpiece…each work an absolute gem” (Lukas Foss)

“Amazing” (Mark Hetzler, trombone, The Empire Brass)

Trio for Viola, Clarinet and Piano:
“…effectively putting across this short, well-crafted, tautly contrapuntal work with its tearaway finale, with its jazz-flavored central “hoe-down” in which Green [clarinetist] switches to the subterranean bass clarinet.” (The Miami Herald)

Kaminarimon: <-CLICK TO SEE VIDEO (requires Quicktime)
“a work that effectively marries the art of Japanese taiko drumming with, of all things, flamenco dancing.” (The Miami Herald)

“…amazingly innovative imagination, has bridged a gap between polar extremes of culture. Stunning.” (The Miami Herald)

“a theatrical climax…this electric work explores contrasting counterpoints both aurally and visually as the drummers’ elemental pounding collides with and echoes the dancer’s stamping-out foot rhythms.” (Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel)

“riveting work, will stay with me forever. One of the most amazing mixes of multiculturalism I’ve ever encountered.” A visual feast…stunning and very effective mixture of a Zen-like “no-mind” with the Spanish “tragic sense of life.” (The South Hampton Press)

“was an unexpected treat. Kaufman combined Japanese taiko drums, Flamenco dance-song-castanets and guitars, into a curious entertainment mixture to excite and regale the senses. It all works well and provides a whale of a show.” (Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel)

Yin & Yang: A Dialogue Between Two Grand Pianos:
"Using modified tone-rows, clusters, glissandos and other devices, Kaufman has sought a musical portrayal of the positive and negative forces that balance the universe." (Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel)

"The Chinese influence is purely philosophical, and the composition impresses by its sheer variety, rhythmic flexibility and intelligent use of silence. Coming at the end of the long program, its brevity was a very positive attribute." (Coral Gables Gazette)

...rousing reading of a new work by Frederick Kaufman... Entertainment News & Views

On first impression, it seems an attractive score: endearing in its use of last century's once mandatory serial techniques, dramatic and very much worth hearing again. (The Miami Herald)

“An attractive score: endearing in its use of last century's once mandatory serial techniques, dramatic and very much worth hearing again.”

“…highly concentrated two-piano work…fascinating, enigmatic music from the wildly spaced Feldman-esque opening to its violent chordal bursts, sudden silences and bleak introspection.” (The Miami Herald)

String Quartet #6, The Urban

"Kaufman was back in town with one of his wildest and most exciting quartets as exquisitely played by the Amernet String Quartet..."- (New Yorker Magazine)

“The Urban represents the composer at his best. The…players relished the jazzy cross-rhythms of this New York inspired single-movement work. The Quartet reaches a stunning peroration as it builds on an ostinato figure toward its final tonal climax.” (The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel)

“Fredrick Kaufman's Urban Quartet proved to be a real showstopper. This work is one of Kaufman's best pieces. Frantic, ultra virtuosic string writing captures the sights and sounds of a metropolis's urban pulse. Aaron Copland-style lyricism leads to a sizzling viola cadenza and jazzy finale that is inflected with a hint of bluegrass. The Amernet Quartet reveled in the score's high-tech acrobatics.” (The Miami Herald)

“..the concert climaxed with a surprising roar and ovation from the assembled crowd for a somewhat dissonant, atonal, but gorgeously colored string quartet, “The Urban” …like Gershiwn before him, Kaufman is well versed in jazz and plenty of that powered the piece, as well as some rock-like energy, in a painting a colorful cacophony of sirens, car alarms, subway screeches, and blaring lights, all organized in musical fashion that built towards its sizzling viola cadenza climax using a Minimalist, Reichian ostinato figure.” (Berkshire Living)

For further information, please contact:
Fredrick Kaufman
Kaufman.Fredrick@gmail.com
305-803-6952