Jonathan Biss to Make Carnegie Hall Debut, 1/21

Pianist Jonathan Biss will make his Carnegie Hall recital debut in the Stern Auditorium on Friday, January 21.  The program for this concert is Janá?ek's Sonata 1.X.1905, From the Street; the New York Premiere of Bernard Rands's Three Piano Pieces; Beethoven's Sonata No. 23 in F Minor "Appassionata"; and Schumann's Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17.  The concert begins at 8:00 p.m.  Tickets are available at www.carnegiehall.org; CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800; or the Carnegie Hall Box Office 57th Street & Seventh Ave.
 
"New York has been my home for the past eight years, and Carnegie Hall feels like my musical home -- for nearly all my life, concerts I've heard there have been a source of inspiration and wonder, and in the last decade, playing there has been a thrill which has not diminished with repetition," says Mr. Biss. "Having the chance to play a solo recital at Carnegie Hall is more meaningful than I can say, and I am especially glad that the program on this occasion will both provide a forum for the introduction of a work by a composer I've long admired, and feature works which were played there by so many of the pianists whose ghosts now contribute to the hall's extraordinary atmosphere."
 
The Carnegie Hall recital program includes two works that Mr. Biss has recorded, Beethoven's Sonata No. 23 in F Minor "Appassionata" and Schumann's Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17, alongside a new work that was commissioned by Music Accord and written for him by Bernard Rands that Mr. Biss will premiere at the Internationale Pianisten in Mainz, Germany on December 3.
 
Following his Carnegie Hall debut on January 21, Mr. Biss will return to New York to appear with the New York Philharmonic in four concerts, February 10-12.   He will perform Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, led by Andris Nelsons, Thursday, February 10 (7:30 p.m.), Friday, February 11 (11:00 a.m.) and Saturday, February 12 (2 p.m. & 8 p.m.).  At the Saturday Matinee Concert on February 12 at 2:00 p.m., he will perform Mozart's Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452, with Members of the New York Philharmonic, followed by the Beethoven concerto.
 
Mr. Biss, widely regarded for his artistry and deeply felt interpretations, has won international recognition for his orchestral, recital, and chamber music performances on four continents and for his award-winning recordings.  He is a frequent performer at leading international music festivals and gives recitals in major music capitals both at home and abroad.
 
Mr. Biss's newest recording is an album of Schubert Sonatas in A Major, D. 959 and C Major, D. 840 and two short Kurtág pieces from Játékok on the Wigmore Hall Live label. Released in October 2009, it was named by NPR Music as one of the best albums of the year.  Among his albums for EMI Classics are a live recording of Mozart Piano Concertos 21 and 22 with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Schumann and Beethoven recital discs, which were recognized with a Diapason d'Or Award and an Edison Award, respectively.
 
Mr. Biss, who turned 30 in September, represents the third generation in a family of professional musicians that includes his grandmother, cellist Raya Garbousova, for whom Samuel Barber wrote his Cello Concerto, and his parents, violinist Miriam Fried and violist/violinist Paul Biss.  Mr. Biss studied at Indiana University with Evelyne Brancart and at The Curtis Institute of Music with Leon Fleisher.  Mr. Biss will join the Curtis Institute's piano faculty in Fall 2011.
 
Among Mr. Biss's numerous awards are the Leonard Bernstein Award, the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 2003 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.  He was the first American to participate in the BBC's New Generation Artist program.  He made his New York recital debut a decade ago aged 20 at the 92nd Street Y and his New York Philharmonic debut under Kurt Masur the same season. 
 
To view interview clips with Mr. Biss and blogs by Mr. Biss on his Carnegie Hall debut, please visit http://soundinsights.carnegiehall.org/