David Tanenbaum is in the middle of four recording projects:

1. A disc containg music of his father, Elias Tanenbaum
2. The complete solo guitar works of Toru Takemitsu for Stradivarius
3. Recordings of the Steve Mackey ensemble piece Measures of Turbulence (with Tanenbaum conducting) and Two Awakenings and a Double Lullaby by Aaron Jay Kernis for guitar, soprano, piano and violin.
4. A concerto disc with New Century Chamber Orchestra containing:
   • Aaron Jay Kernis – Concierto de Dance Hits
   • Astor Piazzolla – Double Concerto for guitar, bandoneon and strings
   • Terry Riley – Triple Concerto for two guitars and violin

David Tanenbaum’s second recording of Aaron Jay Kernis‘ 100 Greatest Dance Hits for string quartet and guitar was released by the British label BlackBox in England. It is available on Amazon.

David Tanenbaum’s second recording of Hans Werner Henze‘s monumental guitar opus Royal Winter Music was released in Italy May 27, 2005 by Stradivarius and will be distributed worldwide. The cycle, lasting almost an hour, is one of the longest pieces ever written for solo guitar, and it remains the only major solo instrumental work by Henze. The cd is available on this site, or from Stradivarius.It. Upon hearing David Tanenbaum play Royal Winter Music for the first time, in 1983, the composer wrote:

..nobody plays this music as well as you do. I think that your extraordinary musicality also makes you find technical answers on the guitar that seem unknown to the average player. I have never heard such a skillful and musically moving performance, and such mastery.

The composer and guitarist have since collaborated on many projects, including tours and a recording of the concerto Henze wrote for David Tanenbaum, An Eine Aolsharfe. Most recently they joined forces for a Carnegie Hall production of El Cimarron in 2000. In 2003, just before recording this cd, Mr. Tanenbaum performed Royal Winter Music at a special house concert arranged by Mr. Henze in his villa in Marino, Italy.

Some months after he died a guitar trio was found in Lou Harrison’s papers called Elegy for Harpo Marx, composed in 1964. The history of the piece is unclear but the version found was certainly written for guitar. Tanenbaum performed (premiered?) the work at the San Francisco Conservatory November 7, 2004 with Brian Dowdy and Rodrigo Placencia, and they recorded the work Nov. 25 for Mode Records.

The long awaited recording of John Adams‘ Naive and Sentimental Music, featuring David Tanenbaum as guitar soloist with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, was released July 30, 2002 by Nonesuch. Mark Swed, in the Los Angeles Times, writes of

‘The gorgeous solo guitar melody (elegantly played by David Tanenbaum) that haunts the central slow movement.’

The cd was nominated for a Grammy in 2003.

Tanenbaum performed the Vivaldi D Major concerto with John Adams conducting on May 11 at the Dean Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, California. Tanenbaum performed Naive and Sentimental Music with the San Francisco Symphony October 20-24, 2004