IU alumnus Jeremy Denk named instrumentalist of the year

Music publication Musical America has named IU alumnus Jeremy Denk its 2014 instrumentalist of the year.

Denk graduated from Jacobs School of Music in 1993 with a master’s degree in music.
 
He then worked at Jacobs as a visiting assistant professor in August 1996 and an assistant professor from 1997 until 2003.

The publication, which publishes both an online magazine and an annual music directory, called Denk a “man of many talents” and “the epitome of the well-rounded musician for the 21st century.”

The magazine referred specifically to his 2013 MacArthur Fellowship and his work as musical director for the 2014 Ojai Festival, a classical and contemporary music festival.

Denk is also in the process of writing his first opera libretto, along with composer Steven Stucky. The opera will premiere at the Ojai Festival.

Recipients of the Musical America awards will be honored in a ceremony Dec. 17 at the Lincoln Center in New York.

Denk was named Musical America’s instrumentalist of the year in 2010.

— Carolyn Crowcroft