Pablo Ziegler

composer/arranger/pianist

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Latin GRAMMY™ winning pianist Pablo Ziegler began performing classical repertoire at the age of 14. In the early 1960’s, influenced by Bebop and Dixieland music, he began playing jazz. It was while performing and arranging jazz that he formed the Pablo Ziegler Trio, which reflected Ziegler’s musical background through the presentation of jazz arrangements of classical music.

In 1978 Ziegler was invited to join Astor Piazzolla’s New Tango Quintet. For the next ten years he performed with this group throughout Europe, Japan and North America, at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Nice Jazz Festival, Sapporo Jazz Festival, Central Park SummerStage, and the Istanbul Festival, among others.

Pablo Ziegler formed his own Quartet for New Tango in 1990 which blended classic tango rhythms with jazz improvisations, something that previously had not been part of the tango lexicon. Howard Reich of The Chicago Times said, “There’s no question that Ziegler takes the tango to levels of sophistication and refinement probably undreamed of by Piazzolla”, and Eric Salzman of Stereo Review, writing of Ziegler’s CD Tango Romance, affirmed that the CD “solidifies his (Ziegler’s) claim to be the outstanding representative of the nuevo tango in his generation.” It was in 1998 that Ziegler recorded Tango Romance for BMG with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Other orchestral engagements have included the Sydney Symphony and the Stavanger Symphonic Orchestra of Norway, among others.

In 1999, Pablo’s performance at Carnegie Hall with his Quintet for New Tango was videotaped for broadcast on PBS which aired it for 6 months. Guests for this performance included the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Gary Burton, Ryota Komatsu and Argentinian singers Maria Graña and J.A.Trelles. Also in 1999, Mr. Ziegler was invited to participate in "Música de las Américas" for The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he was honored for his contribution to the evolution of Tango with a bronze plaque. The Mayor of New Orleans also recognized Mr. Ziegler’s artistry by awarding him the title of International Honorary Citizen of the City of New Orleans. Other honors include Steinway & Sons New York naming him Steinway Artist 1998.

Since 2002 Pablo Ziegler has been presenting his quartet once a year, at Jazz Standard in NYC with guest artists, including Paquito D’Rivera, Stefon Harris, David Sanchez, Randy Brecker, Gil Goldstein, James Carter, Edmar Castañeda, Dave Samuels, Harry Allen, Kenny Garrett and Nestor Torres. He performed at the Piano 2003 Festival in Manchester, UK, and he has done 16 European tours to date. Mr. Ziegler’s performances in recent seasons have included several important venues and festivals throughout the U.S., including Carnegie Hall (as part of the JVC Jazz Festival with guest artists Paquito D’Rivera, Joe Lovano and Gary Burton), the Savannah Music Festival, Blue Note, Chamber Music Albuquerque, American Theatre, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA, the University of Texas-Austin, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in Maryland, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Ravinia Festival, the International Festival of Arts & Ideas with pianist Christopher O’Riley in the duo Los Tangueros, the New World Symphony in Miami, New York’s Knitting Factory with Emanuel Ax, the Cape May Music Festival in New Jersey, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival amongst many others. Important international engagements have included the Umbria Jazz Festival (with guest artists Paquito D´Rivera, Joe Lovano and Richard Galliano), Theatres in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (Israel), twice at The Lapataia Jazz Festival in Punta del Este (Uruguay), and the Verbier Festival (Switzerland), as well as performances in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, England, Sweden, Slovenia, France, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy and Greece with the Pablo Ziegler Trio. 

Pablo Ziegler is not only a performer but also an enthusiastic educator. He has given master classes at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), and workshops at the Rhythmic Copenhagen Conservatory and the Arhus Conservatory. Spring 2007 found him in Residency at the Indiana University - Latin American Music Center, and later at the University of Texas, Austin. 

In 2002, and 2004, Mr. Ziegler served as Musical Director of a fully-staged version of Astor Piazzolla’s “little opera”, Maria de Buenos Aires, in which he also performed. The first one was an Italian production in Ravenna and Bologna, with 10 performances and the second one was a Dutch Production which toured for a month throughout Holland, Belgium and Hungary.

2007 marks the release of two new CDs for Mr. Zeigler: a 2006 live performance with guitarist Quique Sinesi and Walter Castor on bandoneon at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires Report (Saphrane), and a live recording at the Jazz Standard Tango & All That Jazz - Pablo Ziegler Quartet with Stefon Harris (Kind of Blue). Pablo Ziegler’s discography also includes Tango Romance: Music of Buenos Aires with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (BMG/RCA); Los Tangueros: the tangos of Astor Piazzolla played by Ziegler and Emmanuel Ax (with two piano arrangements by Ziegler) (SONY); Asfalto: Street Tango (BMG/RCA); Pablo Ziegler Quintet for New Tango recorded with guest artist Joe Lovano (BMG/RCA); and Bajo Cero with Quique Sinesi and Walter Castro (Zoho Music) which won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Tango Album in 2005. Pablo Ziegler also appears as a guest artist on two of Gary Burton’s recordings, Piazzolla Reunion and Libertango, both on the Concord Jazz label, as well as an appearance as arranger and accompanist on The Lost Days, a recording with renowned mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, released in 2003 on BMG/RCA. Mr. Ziegler's compositions are also performed and recorded by many musicians throughout the world.

(May 2007)