Frederic Hand: Home

A graduate of the Mannes College of Music, Frederic Hand was a Fulbright Scholar to England and a student of Julian Bream. His solo performances in North and South America and Europe have received the highest critical acclaim. The New York Times wrote: “He played unerringly, with all the verve and spirit that one could ask.” Appointed the Metropolitan Opera’s guitarist and lutenist in 1984, he has accompanied Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Renee Fleming, and many other renowned singers. Guest appearances include the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Mostly Mozart Festival, Marlboro Music Festival and the Caramoor Festival with the Orchestra of St. Lukes.

 

Frederic Hand’s playing and improvisations have been heard on the scores of numerous films, including those starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Robert DeNiro in This Boy’s Life, Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep in Kramer vs Kramer and Sean Connery in The Next Man. His scores for television earned him an Emmy Award and his arrangement and performance of the theme for the film Kramer vs. Kramer led to his own best selling recording for Sony, Baroque and On the Street. Among his other recordings are Jazzantiqua, Heart’s Song, Odyssey and Samatureya. His latest recording, Across Time, spans forty years of his original compositions and is distributed by Naxos. Published worldwide, his music has been performed and recorded by John Williams, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Brasil Guitar Duo, Paula Robison, Fabio Zanon, David Leisner, Eduardo Isaac, and the Verdery-Schmidt Duo. For his recording and performances with flutist Paula Robison, he was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation’s “Samuel Sanders Award.” In 2023 the Guitar Foundation of America commissioned him to compose the set piece for their International Concert Artist Competition, titled Undercurrents.

 

Frederic Hand has served on the faculties of the University of Connecticut, Purchase College, State University of New York, Bennington College, Ithaca College and the Mannes College of Music. He is currently a faculty member of The Graduate Center, City University Of New York. Among his master classes are those at New England Conservatory of Music, Yale University, Dartmouth College, Cleveland Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Emory University, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has been an Affiliate Artist with the State Arts Councils of Colorado, Arizona, Washington and California.