Rob Schwimmer

Soloist for "A Night at the Movies" - February 5, 2011

Rob Schwimmer, is a composer/pianist and thereminist who has performed and recorded throughout the world. His compositions have been featured in theater, television series and movies, documentaries and feature films including the Academy Award Winners "Freeheld and "Dear Diary."

His recent solo CD "Beyond The Sky" was hailed as "Extraordinary" in Gramophone and as "Shaping up to be the finest solo piano CD of the year" in All About Jazz-NY. Rob is a founding member of the highly acclaimed Polygraph Lounge music and comedy duo with multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart.

Schwimmer has worked/ played with Simon and Garfunkel, Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bobby McFerrin, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, Adam Guettel, Chaka Khan, Laurie Anderson, Bette Midler, T-Bone Walker, Sam Rivers, Marc Shaiman, The Klezmatics, Matthew Barney, Ang Lee, Bela Fleck, David Krakauer, Mary Cleere Haran, Maria Schneider, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kepa Junkera, Marshall Brickman, Michel Gondry, Josh Groban, Christian Marclay, Queen Latifah, Mabou Mines, Geoffrey Holder, John Cale, Steve Buscemi, Theo Bleckmann, Annette Peacock, John Stubblefield, Burt Bacharach, Edie Brickell, Iva Bittova, Arif Mardin, Teo Macero, Hal Willner, Vernon Reid, The Everly Brothers, Ethel, The Roches, Anjani Thomas, Kurt Vonnegut, Odetta, James Emery, Drepung Loseling Tibetan Monks, Joseph Jarman, Alwin Nikolai/ Murray Louis Dance Company, Henry Jaglom, Talujon Percussion Quartet, Fred Anderson, Marc Ribot, C&C Music Factory and Sammy Davis Jr.

Hailed as a "theremin hero" in The New Yorker, Rob is one of the few theremin virtuosos in the world, performing as featured theremin soloist with The Orchestra of St. Luke's playing Rob's own version of Bernard Herrmann's "Scene d'Amour" from Vertigo at Caramoor, NPR TV's History Detectives, Matthew Barney's epic movie Cremaster 3, R.W. Goodwin's movie (producer /director/ writer of X-Files) Alien Trespass, CBS television series Now and Again and A&E's Breakfast With the Arts. Touted as a "Theremin master" by The New York Times, he is an original member of the NY Theremin Society and was one of the chosen participants in the historic 10 Piece Theremin Orchestra at Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Rob recently premiered his 23 minute work "Pellucid Dream(s) for Theremin" which was commissioned by The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Schwimmer's work can be heard on CBS/ Sony, Warner Brothers, Toshiba/ EMI, Def Jam/ Island, Manhattan/ Blue Note, Dorian, NHK, Capricorn, Evidence, Knitting Factory, Polystar, Traditional Crossroads, Dreamworks SKG, Universal Pictures, TriStar Pictures, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, CBS, NBC, ABC, Discovery, Lifetime, Noggin, A&E, NPR and Nickelodeon.