Firebrand Pianist Conrad Tao Explores Rachmaninoff's Work and Influence on American Music at The Soraya, April 6

American pianist Conrad Tao is shaping the future of classical music through his rich and unique interpretations of the Classical Canon.

For his debut appearance at The Soraya on Thu, Apr 6 at 8pm, Tao pairs American works that inspired or were inspired by Rachmaninoff-from Billy Strayhorn, Art Tatum, Irving Berlin, to Stephen Sondheim-with selections from the composer's Etudes Tableaux, Preludes, and Symphonic Dances, as well as Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata featuring cellist, Jay Campbell.

The last of the Romantics, Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff forged a new musical path for modern composers. The Soraya celebrates Rachmaninoff's piano prowess - both as a performer and composer - and the 150th anniversary of his birth. The artist not only influenced the lush Hollywood sound of movie-music, but also frequented New York Jazz clubs for creative inspiration after his emigration from Russia in 1917.

Tao states, "In my program, Rachmaninoff's move to New York in 1918 serves as a jumping off point for a speculative evening exploring the influence of jazz and American popular music on Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninoff's influence on composers of those same traditions, and other surprising musical connections along the way, featuring music by Billy Strayhorn, Art Tatum, Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim, and, of course, Sergei Rachmaninoff himself."

Conrad Tao has appeared worldwide as a pianist and composer and has been dubbed "the kind of musician who is shaping the future of classical music" by New York Magazine, and an artist of "probing intellect and open-hearted vision" by The New York Times. Tao has performed as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony.

As a composer, his work has been performed by orchestras throughout the world; his first large scale orchestral work, Everything Must Go, received its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic, and its European premiere with the Antwerp Symphony, and he was the recipient of a 2019 New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award, for Outstanding Sound Design / Music Composition, for his work on More Forever, in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Caleb Teicher. He is the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and was named a Gilmore Young Artist-an honor awarded every two years highlighting the most promising American pianists of the new generation.

In the 2022-23 season, Tao returns to perform Mozart with the New York Philharmonic, for whom he will also curate a program for their Artist Spotlight series, featuring collaborations with vocalist, Charmaine Lee, and wind ensemble, The Westerlies. He will also return to the San Francisco Symphony both as a soloist in Gershwin's Concerto in F major at Davies Symphony Hall, and as a curator for their Soundbox series. In Washington, DC, he will make his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra performing Shostakovich with Dalia Staveska, and- following Atlanta Symphony's premiere of his Violin Concerto with Stefan Jackiw in 2021-Tao will appear as soloist with the orchestra performing Ravel with Ryan Bancroft. After their successful collaboration with the Finnish Radio Symphony, Tao will further re-unite with Hannu Lintu to perform Tchaikovsky with the Naples Philharmonic, as well as return to Finland to open the season with the Tampere Philharmonic and Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

In his first collaboration with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in the Fall of 2022, Tao curated and led a program of music by Ruth Crawford Seeger, Gesualdo, CPE Bach, Feldman, and Mozart. Other upcoming collaborations include ongoing performances of Counterpoint with dancer Caleb Teicher, and performances of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with Orchestra of St Luke's, as part of Paul Taylor Dance Company's season at Lincoln Center. The 22-23 season will also include a multi-city tour with the Junction Trio, which includes the group's Celebrity Series of Boston debut, alongside performances in New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, and more.

A Warner Classics recording artist, Tao's debut disc Voyages was declared a "spiky debut" by The New Yorker's Alex Ross. Of the album, NPR wrote: "Tao proves himself to be a musician of deep intellectual and emotional." His next album, Pictures, with works by David Lang, Toru Takemitsu, Elliott Carter, Mussorgsky, and Tao himself, was hailed by The New York Times as "a fascinating album [by] a thoughtful artist and dynamic performer...played with enormous imagination, color and command." His third album, American Rage, featuring works by Julia Wolfe, Frederic Rzewski, and Aaron Copland, was released in the fall of 2019. In 2021, Tao and brass quartet The Westerlies released Bricolage, an album of improvisations and experiments recorded in a small cabin in rural New Hampshire in June 2019.

Tao was born in Urbana, Illinois in 1994. He has studied piano with Emilio del Rosario in Chicago and Yoheved Kaplinsky in New York, and composition with Christopher Theofanidis.

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