From November 18 – 20, 2021, Dr. William Schimmel performed Jorge Widmann’s “Towards Paradise for Trumpet and Orchestra” with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This was the American Premiere which took place at Boston’s Symphony Hall. The 35 minute work called for a large accordion part and, in a number of sections, highlighted the trumpet soloist, Haka Hardenberger from Sweden

Jorg Widmann is a German composer and a virtuoso clarinetist. He has a love of the accordion and uses it in many ways, from texture, form highlighting, from soloing, from blending and many other factors at added to altering the sound of the orchestra.

In the past, Dr. Schimmel performed Widmann’s “Babylon Suite” with The New York Philharmonic. The conductor was Andris Nelsons, the Principal Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. William Schimmel’s versatility is evident by the many musical projects that he is involved in. He has devoted his life to musicianship particularly utilizing the accordion. William Schimmel holds a BM, MS and DMA degrees Doctorate from The Juilliard School. He performed with virtually every ensemble in New York from The New York Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Opera, Jazz at Lincoln Center, most contemporary ensembles, Broadway as well as numerous European tours.

His Tango Project CDS have reached #1 on the Billboard charts along with Stereo Review Album of the Year and Grammy nominations. He has performed in many movie soundtracks and can be seen and heard in “Scent of a Woman” starring Al Pacino (who received an Oscar). His current CD, “The Theater of the Accordion” features trumpeter Wynton Marsalas and has reached #2 on the Amazon charts (They perform a six minute version of Mahler 9).

Dr. Schimmel resides in Manhattan with his wife, Micki Goodman, a dancer/choreographer andvideo artist. Together they have produced numerous videos that can be seen and heard on YouTube. Dr. Schimmel’s works are currently being archived at the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library.

For further information: accordionbill@gmail.com