Malcolm Bilson

Bilson was born in Los Angeles, California. His family was and is successful in the entertainment world: his father, George Bilson (1902–1981), was a British producer/writer/director of Ashkenazi Jewish extraction originally from Leeds, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his older brother Bruce Bilson had a long and productive career as a film and television director; other relations (descendants of Bruce) are his nephew Danny Bilson and grandniece Rachel Bilson.[lower-alpha 1]

Malcolm Bilson graduated from Bard College in 1957.[lower-alpha 2] He continued his studies with Grete Hinterhofer at the Akademie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Berlin, later with Reine Gianoli at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. He studied for a doctoral degree at the University of Illinois with Stanley Fletcher and Webster Aitken, obtaining his DMA in 1968.[lower-alpha 2] At that time he was appointed as an assistant professor at Cornell.

A modern fortepiano built by Paul McNulty in imitation of a historical instrument by Anton Walter. The smaller size, smaller range, and lighter construction of the fortepiano, relative to the modern grand, can be seen.

Arguably the key event in Bilson's career was his first encounter with the fortepiano in 1969, which he narrated to Andrew Willis in a 2006 interview. Interested in historical pianos, he had bought a 19th-century instrument, described to him as a "Mozart piano," and was referred to Philip Belt, an expert on early pianos, about the possibility of restoring it:

I wrote Belt and sent some pictures, and Belt wrote back that yes, he could do that, but [my piano] wasn't at all a piano from Mozart's time. And as a matter of fact, he had just built such a piano, after Louis Dulcken, c. 1785, and he wanted to take it around to show at colleges and music schools. So I said fine, bring it, and I'll play a concert on it. He brought it and left it for a week, and I played an all-Mozart concert ... with K. 330 and the B minor Adagio and the Kleine Gigue, [as well as] the G minor piano quartet with some modern string players at 440.[lower-alpha 3][1]

In preparing for this concert, Bilson was startled by the challenges—and opportunities—that playing a fortepiano poses to a traditionally-trained pianist (fortepianos have a far more delicate touch, shallower key dip, lighter framing, and shorter sustain time than modern grands.)

I have to admit now that I really couldn't handle the thing at all. I must be the least gifted person for the job; my hands are too big, and I don't have the necessary technique such an instrument required. In trying to operate this light, precise mechanism, I really felt like an elephant in a china closet. But I kept at it all week and practiced hard and after several days began to notice that I was actually playing what was on the page. What I had been doing before was simply playing legato and pedaling through. I saw the slurs, but, of course, I didn't want to create hiccups, which can happen so easily on the modern piano. Suddenly I found that I really didn't need much pedal and that the articulative pauses actually made the music more expressive.[lower-alpha 4] At the concert at the end of that first week, which was absolutely filled to overflowing, there was great enthusiasm. Nobody had ever seen such a thing. I thought to myself that this was an opportunity to do something useful with my talents. This was in 1969, and I decided to buy one of these pianos and to seriously pursue playing it. For several years I took the instrument [also by Belt] around and played it in colleges and small venues. It was, of course, viewed as a curiosity back then, and some people thought I was a bit crazy. I knew I was doing something fringe-y, but I also thought it was important and worth doing because there were aspects of this music that nobody could hear any more.[1]

The career shift ultimately proved successful; Bilson developed a reputation as a fortepiano performer, gave concerts widely and was also invited to make recordings (see below). In 1974, he co-founded the Amadé Trio with violinist Sonya Monosoff and cellist John Hsu; the trio performed works on historical instruments.

Bilson was promoted to full professor in 1976 and was appointed to the Frederick J. Whiton chair in 1990.[lower-alpha 2]

Bilson retired in 2006 as a professor,[2] remaining active as a teacher and performer.

In 2011, Bilson brought the first fortepiano competition to the United States. Coordinated under the Westfield Center, with a grant from the Mellon Foundation, the competition and academy were held at Cornell University; 31 young musicians from all over the world competed for prize money totaling $13,500.