Tilles, Nurit
Tilles, Nurit
Tilles, Nurit, accomplished American pianist; b. N.Y., May 29, 1952. She studied at the preparatory division of the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. (1961-68) and at the Oberlin (Ohio) Coll. Cons. of Music (B.Mus., 1973); after taking courses in tabla and gamelan at the Center for World Music (1974), she attended the State Univ. of N.Y. at Stony Brook (M.Mus., 1976), where she studied piano with Gilbert Kalish and chamber music with Arthur Weisberg. She performed and recorded with Steve Reich and Musicians (from 1975), Laura Dean Dancers & Musicians (1980-82), the Mother Mallard Band, a.k.a. the David Borden Music Co. (1980-87), and the Meredith Monk Ensemble (from 1984); collaborated with Monk on Fayum Music for Voice and Hammered Dulcimer and frequently toured with her. In 1978 she formed the piano duo Double Edge with Edmund Niemann, giving premiere performances in the U.S. and Europe of works specially composed for them by Borden, John Cage, “Blue” Gene Tyranny et al. Her solo recording Ragtime: Here and Now received high critical praise.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire