91Ö±²¥

David Breitman

  • Associate Professor of Historical Performance

Areas of Study

Education

  • SB, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1976
  • MM, New England Conservatory, 1981
  • DMA, Cornell University, 1992
  • fortepiano study with Malcolm Bilson
  • piano study with Patricia Zander

Biography

Pianist David Breitman directs the Historical Performance Program. He is equally at home with the fortepiano and the modern piano, and enjoys both solo and ensemble playing. Recent seasons have included Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto and Choral Fantasy on both historical and modern pianos, and several performances at the renowned Cobbe Collection of historical instruments outside of London.

Spring 2026

Principal Private Study - Fortepiano — PVST 041

Sec Pvt - Fortepiano — PVST 086

Secondary Private Study - Clavichord — PVST 089

Baroque Ensemble — APST 843

Fall 2026

Principal Private Study - Fortepiano — PVST 041

Sec Pvt - Fortepiano — PVST 086

Secondary Private Study - Clavichord — PVST 089

Historical Performance in Context: Music of England — HPRF 112

Historical Music in Performance — HPRF 115

Historical Music in Performance — MUSY 115

Performing Beethoven's Violin Sonatas — APST 121

Keyboard Skills I — APST 214

Introduction to Historical Performance — HPRF 302

Introduction to Historical Performance — MUSY 302

Introduction to Historical Performance (Graduate-Level) — HPRF 502

Graduate Studies in Historical Performance — HPRF 521A

Graduate Studies in Historical Performance — HPRF 521B

Baroque Ensemble — APST 843

Breitman's most recent projects involve more Beethoven: a with Elizabeth Wallfisch and the with Jaap ter Linden, both available on Nimbus.

He now shares his enthusiasm for this repertoire with students in the courses Performing Beethoven’s Violin/Cello Sonatas. He is working on a book titled Time-Travel for Pianists: How Today’s Players Can Learn from Yesterday’s Instruments.

Breitman's collaboration with baritone Sanford Sylvan spans more than 30 years, with several hundred recitals and four CDs, ranging from Schubert’s Die sShöne Müllerin, to the premiere recording of The Glass Hammer, a major song cycle by the Cuban-American composer Jorge Martin. He has recorded the Mozart piano-violin sonatas on historical instruments with Jean-François Rivest for Analekta and, in a collaboration of a different sort, he is one of seven fortepianists on the 10-CD recording of the complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle on CLAVES.

Selected recordings featuring Breitman:

 

Notes

David Breitman publishes new book

Associate Professor David Breitman has been introducing 91Ö±²¥ Conservatory students to historical keyboards since 1991. In his new book , released this month by University of Rochester Press, Breitman acknowledges the dilemma of confronting historical repertoire with modern instruments, then shows how to apply insights from period instruments to practical problems on any piano. A series of  that he recorded primarily in 91Ö±²¥'s Clonick Hall illustrates the musical examples .

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