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Conrad Tao

January 01, 1970

Conrad Yiwen Tao (born June 11, 1994) is an American composer and pianist and former violinist. Tao's piano and violin performances since childhood brought him early recognition at music festivals and competitions. At age 13, he was featured on the PBS TV series From the Top – Live from Carnegie Hall as violinist, pianist and composer. He won eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. Among his compositions have been commissions by the New York Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony and Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Hillary Clinton with Tao, in 2008, to recognize his being named a Davidson Fellow Laureate

Among other honors, Tao is a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, a Davidson Fellow Laureate and a Gilmore Foundation Young Artist. He was the only classical artist named by Forbes magazine in 2011 as one of the "30 Under 30" in the music industry. In 2012, Tao released a solo piano EP, The Juilliard Sessions: Conrad Tao Plays Debussy and Stravinsky, and a synthpop album, Eyelids. Several more albums have followed. Also in 2012, he was an Avery Fisher Career Grant awardee. He produced and hosted a three-night music festival, the UNPLAY Festival, in New York City in 2013. He was artist-in-residence for Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 2015/16 and Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2017.

Early life and career edit

Tao was born in Urbana, Illinois to Sam Tao, an engineer, and Mingfang Ting, a research scientist. Both parents were born in China and earned doctorates from Princeton University.[1] Hearing his older sister Connie's piano lessons, Tao began to play children's songs on the piano, by ear, at the age of 18 months.[2] He gave his first piano recital at age 4.[3] At age 8, he made his concerto debut with the Utah Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in A major.[3][4] At the age of 9, Tao moved with his family to New York City, and he began studying in the Juilliard School's Pre-College Division[5] and at the Professional Children's School.[6] He won the 2003 Walgreens National Concerto Competition as a violinist.[4] In 2004, 2007 (live at Carnegie Hall) and 2011, Tao was featured on the PBS and NPR series From the Top as violinist, pianist and composer.[7][8]

Tao won eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards from 2004 to 2011.[3][9] At age 10, his piano composition Silhouettes and Shadows won the BMI Carlos Surinach Prize.[4][10] His first piano concerto, The Four Elements, was premiered in 2007 by the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio.[1] In 2008, Tao was named a Davidson Fellow Laureate for his project, "Bridging Classical Music from the Past to the Future as Pianist and Composer".[11] In reviewing a 2008 piano recital in Berkeley, where Tao gave the US premiere of his "Fantasy-Sonata", the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "The four movements of the piece tumble forth in a way that supports its hybrid title, suggesting both a free flow of ideas and an overarching structural framework. There are melodies for the ear to grab onto – especially in the slow movement, set against rippling left-hand accompaniment – and Tao varies and subverts them with glee; the intermezzo, with its spidery octave figures, is a little gem of sardonic wit."[12] Other early compositions include pieces for solo piano and chamber music such as Tao's 2009 piano trio.[13]

He won both the Juilliard Pre-College Gina Bachauer Piano Competition and the Prokofiev Concerto Competition in 2006.[4] At the 2007 Festival del Sole, the 13-year-old Tao substituted for the ailing Italian pianist Fabio Bidini to play Serge Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Russian National Orchestra. One critic wrote, "nothing could prepare us for the talent that leapt from the stage. [Tao's] command of one of the classical repertoire's most difficult works was simply amazing."[14] By the age of 16, Tao had appeared as a piano soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Utah Symphony and San Francisco Symphony, among many others.[1][15]

In 2008, Tao performed both Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor and Piano Concerto No. 1 in the same concert with the Miami Piano Festival Orchestra.[4][10] He repeated that feat nine times the next year with the Symphony of the Americas in Boca Raton.[16] The same year, critic Harris Goldsmith, in Musical America, called Tao "the most exciting prodigy ever to come my way. His promise is limitless."[17] The Wall Street Journal wrote of a 2008 concert: "In Mozart's dark-hued Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, Mr. Tao showed appealing freshness in his use of telling, expressive details that distinguish one interpretation from the next – a slight decrescendo here, a change of tonal color there, a heartfelt response to the piece. The crossed-hand passages and rapid scale runs were performed with consummate ease."[1] In 2009, Tao's venues included the Ravinia Festival[18] and Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre.[19] Of a 2009 performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, the San Francisco Classical Voice commented: "The first movement was full of thrills: laser-sharp articulation and accuracy, powerful glissandos ... and, what's more, heartfelt expression. ... Expressiveness came even more to the fore in the second movement. Never have I heard a left hand with such hypnotic affect, with right-hand legato melodies as smooth as a trip down the Seine."[20]

Tao studied piano with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Choong Mo Kang at Juilliard and composition with Christopher Theofanidis of Yale University.[21][22] He studied violin with Catherine Cho at Juilliard's Pre-College Division.[15][16] He also studied for six summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2004 to 2009, mostly playing violin, which he believes has helped him to develop "an understanding of the dynamic between orchestra and soloist."[23][24]

2010 to 2011 edit

Tao was composer-in-residence for the 2009–10 season with Chicago's Music in the Loft concert series. As part of this program, the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music commissioned his "String Quartet No. 2" for the Jasper Quartet, which they performed throughout the US[25][26] After hearing Tao play the premiere of his Three Songs for Piano (2010), the reviewer of The Washington Post called them "well-constructed miniatures exploiting different moods and textures on the piano. The juxtaposition was admirable; Tao made no bones about concealing his influences, with Debussy first and foremost. ... But influences aside, his compositional voice is not "derivative" at all; you can discern a clear, fresh imagination".[27] Among Tao's 2010 performances was a concert with Utah Symphony that included Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.[28] In the summer of 2010, Tao returned to the Aspen Music Festival as a guest artist to fill in on short notice as a piano soloist for an ailing Jeffrey Kahane.[23]

 
Tao in 2011

Tao completed high school in 2011 by independent study through the Indiana University High School of Continuing Studies, while studying music in the Juilliard precollege program and performing concerts on tour.[29][30] Of this schedule, he said: "It isn't always easy to be an active performer as well as a student. ... I love doing all of these things at once and giving myself as many challenges as I can, because I learn so much from the experiences that result. Everything I teach myself or see or do can be applied to a larger framework".[31] Later the same year, Tao began college in the Columbia University–Juilliard School joint bachelor's degree program.[32]

The New York Times praised Tao's performance of Chopin piano pieces while accompanying American Ballet Theatre dancers at a 2011 gala at New York City Center.[33] Tao repeated Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody in 2011 with the Pacific Symphony.[34] and was featured as both a piano and violin soloist in Jackie Evancho's 2011 album and PBS Great Performances special Dream with Me.[21] After this, he retired from playing the violin professionally.[23][35][36] In his 2011 Cliburn Concerts debut in Dallas, Texas, Tao was again a last-minute replacement,[37] where he "continually uncovered the energy and emotional underpinnings inherent in [the] music".[38][39]

Tao was the only classical artist named by Forbes magazine as one of the "30 Under 30" in the music industry in 2011.[9][40] He won the 2011 Soloist-Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,[41] he was named a 2011 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungArts program awarded him its gold medal in music.[3][42] He was named a 2012 Gilmore Foundation Young Artist.[21][43]

2012 to 2013 edit

Tao travelled to Europe, South America and throughout North America to play more than 75 concerts in 2012.[44] His concerts included Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Utah Symphony,[45] Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra[46] and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Symphony of the Americas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, showing "a natural feel for the concerto's yearning melodies and restless energy".[47] He gave his second annual recital in New York City called "A Piece for Peace" at Weill Recital Hall[9] that included the Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 7.[48] Tao also played a program with Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Brazil[49] and performed three recitals at the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Michigan, where he gave "a stupendous performance. ... The first half was elegant. Fireworks followed."[50] This was followed by performances in Munich, Paris, Berlin and London.[44][51]

Tao was one of two Avery Fisher Career Grant awardees for 2012.[52][53] Also in 2012, Tao played concerts in Mexico[54][44] and at the Montreal Chamber Fest, where his Dvořák pieces "stole the show with a once-in-a-lifetime performance of the rarely-encountered American Suite ... he plays music as if the composer were at his side, with color, joy and spontaneous poetry."[55] At the 2012 Aspen Music Festival, Tao played Gershwin's Second Rhapsody,[56] followed by recitals in Avery Fisher Hall at the Mostly Mozart Festival.[57]

The same year, he performed with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic,[58] and his composition "Pángǔ", an overture-like modern piece inspired by the Chinese creation myth, was premiered by the Hong Kong Philharmonic, under Jaap van Zweden.[23][59] In Toronto, Tao played Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto and Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6",[60] and with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, he played Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3[61][62] He returned to Pacific Symphony to play the Grieg piano concerto with "crisply inflected and strongly sculpted fortissimos and effervescent scherzando playing."[63] He also played with the Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra at the Concertgebouw.[44]

In 2013, Tao played Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra[64] and, on less than three days' notice to replace another pianist, he joined St. Louis Symphony to play Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3.[65] He next played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 and the "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6" with the Hong Kong Philharmonic.[66] That year, Face the Music's Pannonia Quartet played Tao's String Quartet No. 2,[67] while Tao performed a recital at the Aspen Music Festival[68] and then was in Switzerland playing Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Bern Symphony Orchestra.[69] In Florida he played all five of Beethoven's piano concerti with the Symphony of the Americas[70] and also played the five with the Spokane Symphony.[71] On short notice, he rejoined Utah Symphony, filling in for an ailing soloist in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.[72] A New York Times review of Tao's concert previewing pieces from his 2013 album Voyages admired Tao's "confident and sensitive playing [and] the scope of his probing intellect and openhearted vision."[73]

In between chamber music and concerto performances that year,[44] using his cash grants, Tao produced and hosted a three-night music festival, the UNPLAY Festival, in New York City in June 2013, which explored the place of classical music in modern culture.[74][75] His goal was to challenge the role of music as passive entertainment and the "narrow conception of what classical music is for, among not only audiences, but also musicians and presenters".[76][77] Tao guest-hosted WQXR's Hammered! with a series of episodes in which he played works by modern composers that evoke memory and remembrance.[78] He then returned to the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to play chamber music.[79]

Other performances in 2013 included stops in Sweden and Chile.[80] He played a recital and concertos by Shostakovich and Mozart with the Santa Fe Pro Musica[81] and opened Pacific Symphony's 35th season with "crisp, clear-eyed and thoroughly musical" performances of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3.[82] With Detroit Symphony Orchestra, his Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 was described as "crisp and accurate, lively and dynamic, and very musical, with moments of thoughtful reflection".[83] In Brazil, he performed the Britten's Piano Concerto with Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais, conducted by Fabio Mechetti.[84] He returned to Weill Recital Hall in October for his third annual "A Piece for Peace" concert, playing works by Getty, Monk and Ravel.[85] Tao again substituted on short notice with the Stamford Symphony Orchestra.[86][87] Later in the year Tao premiered an orchestral work that he wrote for Dallas Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, The World Is Very Different Now (a line from JFK's 1961 inaugural address).[13][88] A review on DFW.com called it "atmospheric, creating shifting moods. ... There are haunting passages that are strikingly appealing, though there are few, if any, sustained, well-defined melodic lines. Instead the work draws listeners by creating moods and with remarkable orchestral color."[89] With the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, Tao performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19.[90]

2014 to 2015 edit

In 2014, Tao rejoined the Oklahoma City Philharmonic to play Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, "illuminating the composer's acerbic wit, sly insouciance and unrelenting rhythmic drive."[91] He repeated the concerto with the Utah Symphony.[92] With the Nashville Symphony, he played Ravel's Piano Concerto in G,[93] and with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, he played Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody and Liszt's "Totentanz".[94] He performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra[95] and played Totentanz and Rhapsody No. 6 with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.[96] With the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm, he performed Gershwin's Concerto in F, followed by recitals and private concerts in Amsterdam, Shanghai China, and the US, as well Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 in Pennsylvania.[44][97] Tao again played the Saint-Saëns with the St. Louis Symphony,[98] followed by concerts in Mexico, the Grieg piano concerto with Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO).[44]

Later in the year, he played Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in North Carolina and gave recitals, including at the Aspen Music Festival and in Switzerland, before playing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Bern Symphony Orchestra.[44] He recorded a video for The New York Times playing the final movement of Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7.[99] He opened the Winston-Salem Symphony's season with Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody[100] and played Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra.[101] In October, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra played Tao's "Pángǔ", and he joined them to play Grieg's Piano Concerto. In Amsterdam, he made his debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, performing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1. He played Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in Norway with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra[44] and then reprised the Grieg with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra[102] and Maine's Portland Symphony Orchestra.[103]

Tao rejoined Baltimore Symphony to play Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 at several venues.[104] He opened the New York Youth Symphony season at Carnegie Hall with Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody.[44][105] Tao's composition "Public Service Announcement (dogs and cats)" was premiered at Merkin Hall in New York City in November by the New York Virtuoso Singers.[106] He reprised the Rhapsody in Malaysia and also with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm.[107][108] NPR selected Tao's performance of Bach's Toccata in F-sharp minor as one of public radio's best in-studio performances of 2014.[109] Tao played Beethoven's Emperor Concerto among other pieces with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, which also played his piece, "Pángǔ".[110] He played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra[111] and, at short notice with the Utah Symphony, played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5.[112] He joined the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra to play Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25, with "exuberant enchantment" and "seemingly innate storytelling ability".[113]

Tao was the 2015/16 DSO Artist-in-residence, with whom he performed Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody,[114] Aaron Copland's piano sonata, four of Rachmaninoff's Études-Tableaux, Op. 39, the violin-and-piano version of Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, Bartók's "Contrasts", Prokofiev's "Piano Sonata No. 7"[115] and Miklós Rózsa's Spellbound Concerto, among other pieces.[116] He also composed for the orchestra, curated concert programs, participated in radio broadcasts and gave recitals and master classes.[117] Also in 2015, Tao played Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Hawaii Youth Symphony[118] and gave several performances with San Diego Symphony, playing Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1, among other pieces.[119][120] With Alabama Symphony Orchestra, he played Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3.[121] He played Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and other works at the Music in the Mountains festival in California,[122] Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody with San Francisco Symphony, and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with Sun Valley Summer Symphony.[118][123] He returned to the Aspen Music Festival to play several programs that included Schumann's "Carnaval", Poulenc's sextet for piano and wind, and Beethoven's Fantasia in C minor.[118][124]

Later in 2015, Tao premiered his concerto An Adjustment for piano, chamber orchestra, and iGadgets, at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, where he was also the soloist in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2. Inspired by Tao's experiences with depression, An Adjustment combines "in the most imaginative way the current style of spiritual post-Romanticism and '90s techno club music."[125][10] His "Pángǔ" was performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Tao joined the orchestra to give a "not only thrillingly rhythmical, but extraordinarily sensitive" account of Gershwin's Concerto in F.[126][127] Tao made stops in Europe, Brazil and the US to play concerts including a recital based on his album, Pictures.[118][128] He rejoined Pacific Symphony with Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3.[129]

2016 to 2017 edit

In 2016, Tao played Schumann's Piano Concerto with the Tallahassee Symphony in Florida,[130] and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic[131] and Mozart's Concerto No. 7, among other pieces, with the San Diego Philharmonic.[132] With Cincinnati Symphony, he played Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody.[133] With West Michigan Symphony, he played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1[134] and next performed the Grieg Piano Concerto in Calgary, Karol Szymanowski's Symphony No. 4, Symphonie Concertante, with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Tchaikovsky's No. 1 with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra,[131] and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 with Santa Fe Pro Musica.[135][136]

With the Swedish Radio Symphony, he played Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 4,[137] and he played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Berkeley Symphony.[138] Tao returned to the DSO to finish his year as artist-in-residence with a recital and the premiere of his orchestral composition, Alice, which was inspired by his recurring childhood nightmares, sometimes described as Alice in Wonderland syndrome.[139] He accompanied the premiere of David Lang's opera The Loser on stage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.[140] Tao played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Giuseppe Verdi Symphonic Orchestra in Milan, Italy, and his composition, I got a wiggle that I just can’t shake was premiered by the Pacific Symphony.[131] He played Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Virginia Symphony Orchestra,[141] Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody with the Hawaii Symphony, Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Nashville Symphony,[142] both Schumann's Piano Concerto and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 at the National Arts Centre in Canada,[143] Szymanowski's Symphony No. 4 with the Szczecin Philharmonic in Poland[144] and Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety, with Staatskapelle Halle in Germany.[145] He also played Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, Schumann's Piano Concerto with the Peninsula Symphony,[146] Gershwin's Concerto in F with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Italy[131] and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra.[147]

In 2017 he gave a recital for the Van Cliburn Foundation in Dallas[148] and a concert with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, playing Charles Ives' Piano Trio, and the Dvořák Piano Trio No. 3 in F Minor. With Portland Ovations in Maine, he played the same two trios, plus the Haydn Piano Trio No. 39 in G Major. Among other concerts, he played with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco of Guadalajara, Mexico and gave recitals at the Aspen Music Festival.[131] With the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in Arizona, he performed Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" Variations, Rhapsody in Blue and Copland's Suite from "Billy the Kid".[149] He premiered his own "free-form" piano concerto, The Oneiroi in New York with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.[150]

Tao was the Hong Kong Philharmonic's 2017 artist-in-residence, with whom he premiered his swallow harbor.[151] He played the Grieg piano concert with Stamford Symphony in Connecticut[152] and his own concerto, An Adjustment, with Sioux City Symphony Orchestra.[153] With Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, he played his piece, "Pángǔ", and Gershwin's Concerto in F.[154] Winston-Salem's symphony orchestra performed his The world is very different now, and he joined them to perform Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3.[155] Tao played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 8 at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, California,[156] and Khachaturian's piano concerto with the Grant Park Orchestra in Chicago[157] before returning to the Aspen Music Festival.[158]

With Philadelphia Orchestra he played Rachmaninoff's Piano Concert No. 2[159] and with the Columbus ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, he premiered his own work for piano and orchestra, Over, and played Haydn's Keyboard Concerto 11.[160] With Eugene Symphony he played Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand and Liszt's Totentanz, and with Spokane Symphony, he returned to Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2.[161] He then played Schumann's Piano Concerto with Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. Later in 2017 he made his Lincoln Center recital debut, where he received an Emerging Artist Award,[162] and returned to Berkeley to play Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody and Liszt's "Totentanz"[163] He wrote an encore, "All I Had Forgotten, Or Tried To", inspired by Kevin Killian's collection of erotic fiction, Impossible Princess.[164]

Since 2018 edit

In early 2018, in addition to recitals, Tao's schedule included Bernstein's The Age of Anxiety with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra,[165] Prokofiev's Second Piano Concerto with Seattle,[166] Schumann's Piano Concerto with the Santa Fe Pro Musica[167] and Gershwin's Concerto in F with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he toured Poland in March 2018.[168] He also formed the JCT Trio with violinist Stefan Jackiw and cellist Jay Campbell. In contrast to Tao's solo recitals, which focus on unconventional programming, the JCT Trio programs traditional repertoire.[36]

In April, he joined Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to perform Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1[169] and Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra for Bartók's Piano Concert No. 3.[170] The same month, Tao's violin sonata, Threads of Contact, premiered by Paul Huang and commissioned by Washington Performing Arts, for whom Tao has been a recitalist, was performed at the Kennedy Center.[171] In May, Tao's dance composition, More Forever, was premiered by Caleb Teicher and Company in New York City,[172] beginning an ongoing collaboration with Teicher.[173] Tao was nominated for a 2019 Bessie Award for Musical Composition of More Forever.[174] Tao returned to Aspen in June.[175]

In September, the New York Philharmonic premiered Tao's Everything Must Go, the fifth Tao work premiered by conductor Jaap van Zweden; the piece was commissioned as a prelude to Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 and takes inspiration from that piece.[176][177] In October he again performed with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.[178] In November, Tao performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with San Diego Symphony.[179]

In January 2019, Tao repeated Teicher's More Forever at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (and then on tour) and also continued to collaborate with Jackiw in Vancouver, Canada, at the 92nd Street Y in New York, and on tour.[180][181] The next month, he reprised his performance in Lang's The Loser, this time with the Los Angeles Opera,[182] In March he performed Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Pacific Symphony.[180] In May, he performed Ravel's Piano Concerto with Colorado Symphony[183] and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.[184] In July, Tao, together with violinist Stefan Jackiw and cellist Jay Campbell, who frequently perform as the JCT Trio, played Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in July.[185] The same month, with Cleveland Orchestra, he played Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3,[186] and with the New York Philharmonic at Bravo! Vail, he played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2.[187]

Also in 2019, Tao gave a recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.[188][189]

Reputation as a pianist edit

Teenage performances edit

Rick Schulz of the Los Angeles Times wrote of a concert by the 16-year-old Tao: "In a dashing account of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody, his attacks were crisp, with rhythmically tricky high-velocity passages cleanly articulated. ... Tao avoided sentimentality, his concentration drawing us into the composer's spare and witty work as few virtuosos of any age can do."[34] Of his 2012 performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Catherine Reese Newton of The Salt Lake Tribune commented: "Not only did Tao demonstrate prodigious technique and a decisive attack in the ... outer movements of the concerto, he showed reflective musicianship in the slow movement. [His] encore [was] a dazzling performance of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6."[45] Of Tao's Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 7, Justin Davidson wrote in New York Magazine: "No 17-year-old should be able to do justice to one of the most bleakly adult pieces in the literature, yet he played it with aggressive charm and flashes of genuine wisdom."[48] Lawrence Johnson of The Detroit News reviewed Tao's performance the same year of Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2:

"Tao blew the doors off [the concerto] with a performance that was no less seductive in its lyrical beauty than hair-raising in its technical brilliance. ... The opening ... an expansive toccata-like solo flight, provided the perfect stage to announce a pianist of formidable technique, acute sensibility and excellent training. ... The concerto proper bore out every promise of the unaccompanied prelude. Tao's playing displayed fine shades of color and intensity, whether the passage at hand demanded reflection or flamboyance. ... Surely as impressive as the young pianist's capacity for whirlwind speed was his poetic disposition and the sheer finesse that ruled his playing."[46]

At the 2012 Aspen Music Festival, Tao "delivered the most arresting performance, attacking [Gershwin's] Second Rhapsody with a lethal combination of power, rhythmic thrust, technical perfection and sheer joy."[56] The following year, on less than three days' notice to replace an ailing pianist, Tao played Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 "with insouciant ease and apparent enjoyment ... flair and musicality".[190] Of Tao's performance of all five of Beethoven's piano concerti that year, David Fleshler commented in South Florida Classical Review: "The mastery he displayed was more than the predictable brilliance of the grown-up prodigy, it was a performance that brought out the nobility, the eloquence and the dramatic power of these works."[191] Larry Lapidus of The Spokesman-Review called the five concerti "a richly rewarding – indeed, unforgettable – musical experience" noting, that "Tao played the lengthy and difficult Concerto No. 1 ... without a flaw: not a missed or imperfectly struck note, not a careless or routine phrase, not a poorly voiced chord."[71] Richard Todd of the Ottawa Citizen termed Tao's Piano Concerto No. 19 by Mozart, with National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, "almost startling in its clarity of sound and purpose."[90]

Since 2014 edit

In 2014, Matt Dixon wrote of Tao's Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3: "The level of precision on display was beyond impressive, and the closing minutes of the third and final movement revealed an energy that was simply exhilarating. Tao's ... approach to the music itself was dynamic, unusually expressive, and engaging, with the technical mastery always serving to aid in the interpretation."[92] Margaret Sandresky of the Winston-Salem Journal commented of his Rachmaninoff Rhapsody: "Tao ... realized with ease both the prodigious technical difficulties and the many varied expressive demands of the piece, leading the orchestra players on a merry chase as the difficult passage work streamed from his fingers like mercury."[100] Scott Smith of The Baltimore Sun stated of his performance of Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 that Tao possesses "an ability to communicate clearly, no matter how thorny a score may become ... Tao brought remarkable spontaneity and colorful phrasing. ... There was always musicality, not just virtuosity".[104] Of his Rachmaninoff Rhapsody, Gregory Sullivan Isaacs of TheaterJones judged that Tao "displayed impeccable technique ... clean and crystal clear, bordering on brittle. Some warmth throughout, not just in the lush melodic parts, would have been welcome. ... This is not to say that his performance lacked nuance, because there were many lovely turns of phrases. However, it left the impression that he was impatient to get through the slow parts and back to the flights of virtuosity. ... But there is no denying Tao's brilliance and technical mastery. All of the above reservations about the performance are the sins of the young."[114]

In the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in 2015, according to Matt Palm of the Orlando Sentinel, "Tao's energetic work blended seamlessly with his fellow musicians to create both elegance and exuberance."[111] Scott Cantrell of The Dallas Morning News called Tao's Aaron Copland piano sonata "gripping ... finely timed and layered, but the rhythmic quirks of the scherzo would have been set in higher relief at a marginally slower pace", and thought of his Rachmaninoff Études-Tableaux, Op. 39 that "the F-sharp minor felt a bit pressed, and the D minor was pushed and pulled about too much. The A minor ... was ravishing, though, and the D major was genuinely exciting".[115] Steven Kruger of New York Arts wrote that Tao's "was the best performance of the Rachmaninoff Paganini Variations I have ever heard, on or off disc. Tao was so vivid, he might as well have been Gershwin at the keyboard. Every note was electric. And the last movement of the Prokofiev Seventh Sonata, offered as an encore, simply made everyone's jaw drop."[123] Peter Dobrin of Philly.com wrote that, in Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2, Tao "kept his monstrous technique on a leash [and] used it for sincerity and wit – waiting a split second in certain entrances for a flash of humor, or holding back for emphasis. The opening was moving, and the way he paced mounting intensity in the last minutes uncovered the best in this work".[125] In a performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in 2016, John Shulson of The Virginia Gazette commented that Tao's "performance ... was one of the most thrilling to be heard on stage with this symphony. ... Tao was the master of the Rachmaninoff and its many moods, offering inspired lyricism and ponderous power."[141]

John Pitcher of Nashville Scene wrote that, in the Grieg, Tao "emphasized the concerto’s showy side [but] there was more ... than mere razzle-dazzle. He was an imaginative tonal colorist who used the piano’s sustain pedal to create a wash of prismatic overtones." He also commented, of Tao's encore, Carter's "fiendishly difficult, cerebral" piece, "Caténaires", that "the audience listened with breathless excitement. In the end, they roared their approval, giving Tao a sustained ovation."[142] In the Ottawa Citizen, Natasha Gauthier judged that Tao "brought an original, modernist sensibility" to the Schumann Concerto and Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. She noted:

Tao has a trick of subtly emphasizing bass lines and syncopations in a way that sounds fresh yet organic, never forced or overblown. He has huge technique and facility, but it's his relaxed, almost jazzy approach to the music that stood out. The Schumann was all restless energy and shifting, interior light. The Beethoven had a lively, prancing magnificence, vivid as a film. An encore of "Caténaires" ... had both meticulous control and lethal attack.[143]

Of Tao's performance of Schumann's piano concerto with the Pacific Symphony, Ken Iisaka of San Francisco Classical Voice commented: "With clear, articulate lines, Robert Schumann's passionate ardor towards Clara was expressed with determination, through deliberate tempos. Rather than letting the music be overly sentimental, rendering it a torrent of rage, Tao illustrated its volatile, bipolar personality with an unusual level of clarity and dryness. It almost felt as if the music gave a third-person account of the composer, rather than the music being by Schumann himself. Tao’s fresh perspective laid strong emphasis on the music’s architecture."[146] Another reviewer thought that, in his rendition of Rhapsody in Blue, Tao "bent the rhythms at times, showing his mastery of jazz style without disturbing his rapport with the accompanying [Asheveille Symphony] orchestra. He found connections and bridges that I had been unaware of, observed pauses that emphasized the importance of silence in the midst of music, and generally convinced the audience that this was a performance to remember."[147] Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times reviewed one of Tao's "Crypt Sessions" recitals at the Church of the Intercession in Harlem, New York (Tao substituted on two days' notice for an ailing David Greilsammer), writing:

In the crypt, the sheer volume of Mr. Tao's sound during frenzied climaxes [of Frederic Rzewski's "Which Side Are You On?"] was near-deafening, yet exhilarating. ... It was fascinating, though, to hear Mr. Tao draw out every dissonance-statured, vehement element of [Copland's piano] sonata while also bringing affecting tranquillity to the pensive conclusion of the last movement."[152]

Of his 2018 performance of Gershwin's Concerto in F with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Mary Kunz Goldman wrote: "Tao has a fine percussive touch. He hammers away at the piece with flawless staccato energy. ... The end of the first movement was so tumultuous and perfectly calibrated that the crowd burst into illicit applause. The Andante movement had a bluesy, bittersweet quality. The concluding Allegro brought Tao back to attack mode. ... The snap-bang ending brought the listeners to their feet ... happy and shouting."[168] Mark Gresham, writing in ArtsATL called Tao's performance of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 "brilliantly virtuosic", and he joined the critics who have particularly remarked upon Tao's playing of his encore, "Caténaires", calling it "perhaps the most adventurous encore to be heard on the ASO stage in a long, long time. ... It was by far the ear-opener of the evening."[169] Reviewing Tao's 2019 debut with Cleveland Orchestra, Zachary Lewis commented: "Technique? Tao had it in spades. He [found] warmth, nuance, and haunting expression where many see little more than virtuoso display. [Besides] a ferocious but still sparkling third movement ... the highlight was the Andantino. ... Tao ably guided his listeners through the eerie, twisted thicket that is a set of variations, conversing gently with his colleagues all the way.[186]

Recordings edit

In early 2012, Tao released his first solo recording with EMI Classics, an EP, The Juilliard Sessions: Conrad Tao Plays Debussy and Stravinsky.[192][193] Justin Davidson wrote of this album, "he plays his confidently poetic Three Songs, which hold their own with a pair of Debussy preludes and Stravinsky's Three Movements from Petrushka."[48] Peter Joelson wrote: "The Debussy Preludes are thoroughly in his bones, but the Stravinsky I must say is given a breathtakingly good account. Technically faultless and interpretively mature, this is a knock-out."[194] The same year, Tao released a synthpop album, Eyelids,[195] and a recording of Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 17 and 25 with Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra.[196]

In early 2013, Tao released an album, Gordon Getty: Piano Pieces, on the PENTATONE label.[197][198] Tao's debut full-length solo album, on EMI Classics, Voyages, featuring Tao's compositions together with pieces by Meredith Monk, Rachmaninoff and Ravel, was released on June 11, 2013.[199] The album reached No. 8 on the Billboard Classical Albums chart.[200] Allmusic rates the album four stars out of five.[201] Davidson wrote: "The playing induces shivers. The [Rachmaninoff] C minor prelude (Op. 23, No. 7) gushes out in quiet cataracts, lyrical and shimmering, a tour de force of delicacy and power."[202] Despite Tao's skepticism about a classical music establishment that is "grossly normative, capitalistic, and steeped in established, unchallenged practices", commented one reviewer, Voyages is "perfect in all the conventional ways: masterfully performed and composed ... cleanly produced, and impeccably sequenced. ... It's an absolute joy to hear him fly through each of these pieces, the essences of which are not overwhelmed but rather recontextualized, given new life ... [Tao] has the creative mind to think of them in new ways."[203] Fanfare magazine also gave the album a very warm review,[204] and the producers of the album were nominated for a Grammy Award.[205] A reviewer for NPR wrote:

Tao proves himself to be a musician of deep intellectual and emotional means. ... Tao [is] a prodigiously talented pianist ... but he also emerges as a thoughtful and mature composer, as his four-movement Vestiges for solo piano demonstrates. ... [W]hat's going to matter ... to listeners is what he makes them feel – and on Voyages, the pianist journeys along varied and alluring pathways, from the dreamy contemplation of the Ravel "Ondine (Wave)" movement to the jaggedly darting "upon being" section from his Vestiges. His playing is strong and sure, and the effect is transcendent and beautiful.[206]

In 2015, Tao released Pictures, an album of piano music, on the Warner Classics label. It features Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, together with works by Elliott Carter, Toru Takemitsu, David Lang and Tao.[207][208] In 2019 he released another album, American Rage.[209] He followed this in 2021 with Bricolage together with the brass quartet The Westerlies.[210]

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  146. ^ a b Iisaka, Ken. "Peninsula Symphony and Conrad Tao Take Schumann Deep", San Francisco Classical Voice, November 8, 2016
  147. ^ a b McIrvine, Ted. "Conrad Tao and the ASO Present Copland, Diamond and Gershwin", CVNC.org, November 19, 2016
  148. ^ Gay, Wayne Lee. "Decking the Hall", TheatreJones.com, January 21, 2017
  149. ^ Burch, Cathalena E. "Wow! Piano protegé Conrad Tao just took our breath away", Arizona Daily Star, February 17, 2017
  150. ^ Hearn, Rex. "Tao's new concerto a triumph at Atlantic Classical", Palm Beach Arts Paper, March 23, 2017
  151. ^ "Cityscape in sound: Conrad Tao’s "swallow harbor", Hong Kong", Financial Times, April 24, 2017 (subscription required)
  152. ^ a b Tommasini, Anthony. "Review: A Pianist Brings American Rage to a Church Crypt", The New York Times, April 7, 2017
  153. ^ Miller, Bruce R. "New music – and ideas – highlight final symphony concert of season", Sioux City Journal, April 29, 2017
  154. ^ Blair Lindsay, Tedrin. "Lexington Philharmonic seizes the spotlight in season finale", Lexington Herald-Leader, May 13, 2017; and Copley, Rich. "Onetime piano prodigy returns to Philharmonic as soloist and composer", Lexington Herald-Leader, May 11, 2017
  155. ^ Lindeman, Timothy H. "Winston-Salem Symphony Season Finale Features Exciting Performances by Conrad Tao", CVNC.org, May 20, 2017
  156. ^ Overton, Marcus. "Michael Francis leads Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra and pianist Conrad Tao down a marvelous path", San Diego Tribune, June 11, 2017
  157. ^ Johnson, Lawrence A. "Pianist Tao makes impressive Grant Park debut with Khachaturian concerto", Chicago Classical Review, June 24, 2017
  158. ^ Steiman, Harvey. "Aspen Music Festival review: Tao stretches boundaries from Mozart to Glass", The Aspen Times, July 11, 2017
  159. ^ Freedman, Geraldine. "Philadelphia Orchestra delivers rousing opening to season at SPAC", The Daily Gazette, August 4, 2017
  160. ^ Lancaster, Boyce. "Conrad Tao Talks with Boyce Lancaster about his World Premiere Performance with ProMusica", WOSU Radio, October 7, 2017
  161. ^ Lapidus, Larry. "Concert review: Conrad Tao spins gold with the Spokane Symphony", The Spokesman-Review, October 22, 2017
  162. ^ Barone, Joshua. "Brazen Virtuosity: The Week’s 8 Best Classical Music Moments on YouTube", The New York Times, December 8, 2017
  163. ^ Balik, Jessica. "Berkeley Symphony With Pianist Conrad Tao Leaves the Audience Searching for Their Socks", San Francisco Classical Voice, December 11, 2017
  164. ^ "Impossible Princess" was, in turn, inspired by Kylie Minogue's album of the same name. See "Conrad Tao's 'All I Had Forgotten Or Tried To' (2017)", 92nd Street Y, January 25, 2019
  165. ^ "Bernstein at 100", TimeOut.com, January 2018
  166. ^ Kiraly, Philippa. "Lee, Hagen, and Tao Shine in Prokofiev Fest's First Night at Seattle Symphony", The SunBreak, January 20, 2018
  167. ^ Keller, James M. "Home away from home: Conrad Tao ", Santafenewmexican.com, January 26, 2018
  168. ^ a b Goldman, Mary Kunz. "Concert shows that high-energy BPO is ready for Poland", The Buffalo News, March 10, 2018
  169. ^ a b Gresham, Mark. "Review: ASO guest pianist Conrad Tao steals the show with his adventurous encore", ArtsATL.com, April 13, 2018
  170. ^ Turnevicius, Leonard. "The year in classical music", The Hamilton Spectator, December 26, 2018
  171. ^ Midgette, Anne. "Paul Huang nurtures the new amid the canon", The Washington Post, April 29, 2018; and Niles, Laurie. "Interview with Violinist Paul Huang: Playing the 'Wieniawski' del Gesù and Returning to Kennedy Center", Violinist.com, April 24, 2018
  172. ^ "9 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend", The New York Times, May 17, 2018
  173. ^ Huizenga, Tom. "Bach on Tap Shoes: Tiptoeing Through The 'Goldberg Variations'", NPR, October 3, 2018; and "Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents the World Premiere of Caleb Teicher & Co with Conrad Tao: More Forever – 1/6-7", ArtVoice, December 12, 2018
  174. ^ Stigler, Britt. "Bessie Awards reveal this year’s nominees and special prizes", WLIW, July 11, 2019
  175. ^ Travers, Andrew. "Soprano Susanna Phillips and a star-studded opening week at the Aspen Music Festival", The Aspen Times, June 28, 2018
  176. ^ Tommasini, Anthony. "The Philharmonic Puts a Young Composer's Twist on Bruckner", The New York Times, September 28, 2018
  177. ^ Bennett, II, James. "A Tease of Conrad Tao's Everything Must Go", WQXR, September 28, 2018
  178. ^ Mälkki, Susanna. "Concerts with Conrad Tao and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra", Susanna Mälkki, September 26, 2018
  179. ^ Herman, Ken. "Excitement at the San Diego Symphony: Conrad Tao’s Electrifying Account of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto and a Premiere by Javier Álvarez", San Diego Story, November 4, 2018; and "San Diego Symphony: Tao Plays Tchaikovsky", San Diego CityBeat, October 29, 2018
  180. ^ a b Looseleaf, Victoria. "It's a Great Time to Be Conrad Tao", San Francisco Classical Voice, May 9, 2019
  181. ^ Deneen, Nancy. "In Studio A With Conrad Tao and Stefan Jackiw", Interlochen Public Radio, January 18, 2019
  182. ^ Farber, Jim. "L.A. Opera's The Loser Is a Winner", San Francisco Classical Voice, February 25, 2019
  183. ^ Ganz, Grace. "Colorado Symphony’s new heights", DU Clarion, May 20, 2019
  184. ^ Byrd, Craig. "How Does Pianist/Composer Conrad Tao Juggle It All?", Cultural Attache, May 17, 2019
  185. ^ Gibbs, Christopher H. "JCT Trio Joins CSO and Rossen Milanov in Trio of Works Celebrating Natural World", The Chautauquan Daily, July 11, 2019
  186. ^ a b Lewis, Zachary. "Jahja Ling conjures true spirit of Blossom with Cleveland Orchestra, Conrad Tao", The Plain Dealer, July 15, 2019
  187. ^ Swenson, Tricia. "Scotty McCreery, free family fun, a half marathon and more: Tricia’s weekend picks for 7/19/19", Vail Daily, July 18, 2019
  188. ^ Grella, George. "Conrad Tao – the classical pianist making it up as he goes along", Financial Times, November 4, 2022
  189. ^ Tommasini, Anthony. "Review: A Fearless, Barefoot Pianist Makes a Carnegie Debut", The New York Times, November 21, 2019
  190. ^ Miller, Sarah Bryan. "Pianist Conrad Tao dazzles in early SLSO debut", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 2013
  191. ^ Fleshler, David. "Pianist Tao, 18, shows deep and mature artistry in Beethoven", South Florida Classical Review, April 16, 2013
  192. ^ Wise, Brian. "EMI's Juilliard Sessions Debut", The Juilliard Journal, Vol. XXVII No. 6, March 2012, The Juilliard School
  193. ^ Tao, Conrad. The Juilliard Sessions: Conrad Tao Plays Debussy and Stravinsky, iTunes, accessed 22 February 2012
  194. ^ Joelson, Peter. "EMI Classics Digital Debut Series" 2012-06-17 at the Wayback Machine, Audiophile Audition, April 9, 2012
  195. ^ Tao, Conrad. Eyelids 2013-05-10 at the Wayback Machine, Tau Tau, accessed March 21, 2012; Tau has released other synthpop music under the name "Tau Tau", which can be found on another of his websites. See Malhotra, Anita. "Interview with Conrad Tao", Artsmania.com, November 12, 2012, accessed June 25, 2014
  196. ^ Tao, Conrad. "Mozart Piano Concertos: No. 17 K453 & No. 25 K503; Conrad Tao, Piano; Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra; Thomas O'Connor, Conductor", Santa Fe Pro Musica Recordings, August 2012, ASIN B0096JEDVI
  197. ^ (PTC 5186 505) "Gordon Getty - Piano Pieces", 2013, accessed September 4, 2014. Tao's "'elegant and even introspective' playing ... make the most of these miniatures." Rabinowitz, Peter J. "Conrad Tao: Getty Homework Suite... on Pentatone", Fanfare magazine, January 31, 2014
  198. ^ "Conrad Tao: Gordon Getty: Piano Pieces", Allmusic.com, accessed October 30, 2014
  199. ^ Gill, Andy. "Album review: Conrad Tao, Voyages (EMI Classics)", The Independent, May 31, 2013; and Voyages Archived 2013-06-29 at archive.today, EMIClassicsUS, accessed April 16, 2013
  200. ^ Chart search: Conrad Tao, BillboardBiz, accessed October 25, 2015
  201. ^ Manheim, James. "Conrad Tao: Voyages", Allmusic, accessed October 25, 2013
  202. ^ Davidson, Justin. "Conrad Tao and Timo Andres: The Past is Prologue", emusic.com, August 20, 2013
  203. ^ Robertson, Alex. "Conrad Tao: Voyages", Sputnik Music, July 8, 2013
  204. ^ Burwasser, Peter. "Conrad Tao: Voyages on EMI", Fanfare magazine, November 21, 2013
  205. ^ "Grammy Awards 2014 nominations: The complete list", New York Daily News, December 7, 2013
  206. ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia. "First Listen: Conrad Tao, Voyages", NPR music, June 2, 2013
  207. ^ Tommasini, Anthony. "Classical Playlist: Conrad Tao, ‘Scrapyard Exotica’ and More", The New York Times, October 7, 2015
  208. ^ Tao, Conrad. Pictures, iTunes, October 9, 2015
  209. ^ Barone, Joshua. "Conrad Tao Was Never Just Another Prodigy", The New York Times, November 19, 2022
  210. ^ Wilson, Emily. "From Piano Trios to Protest Music, Conrad Tao Does It All", San Francisco Classical Voice, November 21, 2022

External links edit

  • Photos of Tao in 2008
  • Photo of Tao on the cover of Pasatiempo magazine, Santa Fe, New Mexico (September 2013)
Interviews
  • video interview of Tao, 2011
  • The Digital Debut Project - Tao discusses The Juilliard Sessions recordings, 2012
  • NYC-ARTS on Channel THIRTEEN NY profile of Tao, September 2012, with his performance of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 from May 2012 Avery Fisher Career Grant ceremony
  • Chris Johnson interview of Tao, July 2013
Performances

January 01, 1970
conrad, this, article, needs, updated, please, help, update, this, article, reflect, recent, events, newly, available, information, december, 2022, conrad, yiwen, born, june, 1994, american, composer, pianist, former, violinist, piano, violin, performances, si. This article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information December 2022 Conrad Yiwen Tao born June 11 1994 is an American composer and pianist and former violinist Tao s piano and violin performances since childhood brought him early recognition at music festivals and competitions At age 13 he was featured on the PBS TV series From the Top Live from Carnegie Hall as violinist pianist and composer He won eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards Among his compositions have been commissions by the New York Philharmonic Hong Kong Philharmonic Pacific Symphony and Dallas Symphony Orchestra Hillary Clinton with Tao in 2008 to recognize his being named a Davidson Fellow Laureate Among other honors Tao is a U S Presidential Scholar in the Arts a Davidson Fellow Laureate and a Gilmore Foundation Young Artist He was the only classical artist named by Forbes magazine in 2011 as one of the 30 Under 30 in the music industry In 2012 Tao released a solo piano EP The Juilliard Sessions Conrad Tao Plays Debussy and Stravinsky and a synthpop album Eyelids Several more albums have followed Also in 2012 he was an Avery Fisher Career Grant awardee He produced and hosted a three night music festival the UNPLAY Festival in New York City in 2013 He was artist in residence for Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 2015 16 and Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2017 Contents 1 Early life and career 2 2010 to 2011 3 2012 to 2013 4 2014 to 2015 5 2016 to 2017 6 Since 2018 7 Reputation as a pianist 7 1 Teenage performances 7 2 Since 2014 8 Recordings 9 References 10 External linksEarly life and career editTao was born in Urbana Illinois to Sam Tao an engineer and Mingfang Ting a research scientist Both parents were born in China and earned doctorates from Princeton University 1 Hearing his older sister Connie s piano lessons Tao began to play children s songs on the piano by ear at the age of 18 months 2 He gave his first piano recital at age 4 3 At age 8 he made his concerto debut with the Utah Chamber Music Festival Orchestra performing Mozart s Piano Concerto in A major 3 4 At the age of 9 Tao moved with his family to New York City and he began studying in the Juilliard School s Pre College Division 5 and at the Professional Children s School 6 He won the 2003 Walgreens National Concerto Competition as a violinist 4 In 2004 2007 live at Carnegie Hall and 2011 Tao was featured on the PBS and NPR series From the Top as violinist pianist and composer 7 8 Tao won eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards from 2004 to 2011 3 9 At age 10 his piano composition Silhouettes and Shadows won the BMI Carlos Surinach Prize 4 10 His first piano concerto The Four Elements was premiered in 2007 by the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus Ohio 1 In 2008 Tao was named a Davidson Fellow Laureate for his project Bridging Classical Music from the Past to the Future as Pianist and Composer 11 In reviewing a 2008 piano recital in Berkeley where Tao gave the US premiere of his Fantasy Sonata the San Francisco Chronicle wrote The four movements of the piece tumble forth in a way that supports its hybrid title suggesting both a free flow of ideas and an overarching structural framework There are melodies for the ear to grab onto especially in the slow movement set against rippling left hand accompaniment and Tao varies and subverts them with glee the intermezzo with its spidery octave figures is a little gem of sardonic wit 12 Other early compositions include pieces for solo piano and chamber music such as Tao s 2009 piano trio 13 He won both the Juilliard Pre College Gina Bachauer Piano Competition and the Prokofiev Concerto Competition in 2006 4 At the 2007 Festival del Sole the 13 year old Tao substituted for the ailing Italian pianist Fabio Bidini to play Serge Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 with the Russian National Orchestra One critic wrote nothing could prepare us for the talent that leapt from the stage Tao s command of one of the classical repertoire s most difficult works was simply amazing 14 By the age of 16 Tao had appeared as a piano soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra Russian National Orchestra Baltimore Symphony Dallas Symphony Detroit Symphony Utah Symphony and San Francisco Symphony among many others 1 15 In 2008 Tao performed both Mendelssohn s Violin Concerto in E minor and Piano Concerto No 1 in the same concert with the Miami Piano Festival Orchestra 4 10 He repeated that feat nine times the next year with the Symphony of the Americas in Boca Raton 16 The same year critic Harris Goldsmith in Musical America called Tao the most exciting prodigy ever to come my way His promise is limitless 17 The Wall Street Journal wrote of a 2008 concert In Mozart s dark hued Concerto No 20 in D Minor Mr Tao showed appealing freshness in his use of telling expressive details that distinguish one interpretation from the next a slight decrescendo here a change of tonal color there a heartfelt response to the piece The crossed hand passages and rapid scale runs were performed with consummate ease 1 In 2009 Tao s venues included the Ravinia Festival 18 and Moscow s Bolshoi Theatre 19 Of a 2009 performance of Ravel s Piano Concerto in G Major the San Francisco Classical Voice commented The first movement was full of thrills laser sharp articulation and accuracy powerful glissandos and what s more heartfelt expression Expressiveness came even more to the fore in the second movement Never have I heard a left hand with such hypnotic affect with right hand legato melodies as smooth as a trip down the Seine 20 Tao studied piano with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Choong Mo Kang at Juilliard and composition with Christopher Theofanidis of Yale University 21 22 He studied violin with Catherine Cho at Juilliard s Pre College Division 15 16 He also studied for six summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2004 to 2009 mostly playing violin which he believes has helped him to develop an understanding of the dynamic between orchestra and soloist 23 24 2010 to 2011 editTao was composer in residence for the 2009 10 season with Chicago s Music in the Loft concert series As part of this program the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music commissioned his String Quartet No 2 for the Jasper Quartet which they performed throughout the US 25 26 After hearing Tao play the premiere of his Three Songs for Piano 2010 the reviewer of The Washington Post called them well constructed miniatures exploiting different moods and textures on the piano The juxtaposition was admirable Tao made no bones about concealing his influences with Debussy first and foremost But influences aside his compositional voice is not derivative at all you can discern a clear fresh imagination 27 Among Tao s 2010 performances was a concert with Utah Symphony that included Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini 28 In the summer of 2010 Tao returned to the Aspen Music Festival as a guest artist to fill in on short notice as a piano soloist for an ailing Jeffrey Kahane 23 nbsp Tao in 2011 Tao completed high school in 2011 by independent study through the Indiana University High School of Continuing Studies while studying music in the Juilliard precollege program and performing concerts on tour 29 30 Of this schedule he said It isn t always easy to be an active performer as well as a student I love doing all of these things at once and giving myself as many challenges as I can because I learn so much from the experiences that result Everything I teach myself or see or do can be applied to a larger framework 31 Later the same year Tao began college in the Columbia University Juilliard School joint bachelor s degree program 32 The New York Times praised Tao s performance of Chopin piano pieces while accompanying American Ballet Theatre dancers at a 2011 gala at New York City Center 33 Tao repeated Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody in 2011 with the Pacific Symphony 34 and was featured as both a piano and violin soloist in Jackie Evancho s 2011 album and PBS Great Performances special Dream with Me 21 After this he retired from playing the violin professionally 23 35 36 In his 2011 Cliburn Concerts debut in Dallas Texas Tao was again a last minute replacement 37 where he continually uncovered the energy and emotional underpinnings inherent in the music 38 39 Tao was the only classical artist named by Forbes magazine as one of the 30 Under 30 in the music industry in 2011 9 40 He won the 2011 Soloist Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern 41 he was named a 2011 U S Presidential Scholar in the Arts and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungArts program awarded him its gold medal in music 3 42 He was named a 2012 Gilmore Foundation Young Artist 21 43 2012 to 2013 editTao travelled to Europe South America and throughout North America to play more than 75 concerts in 2012 44 His concerts included Tchaikovsky s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Utah Symphony 45 Saint Saens Piano Concerto No 2 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra 46 and Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 2 with the Symphony of the Americas in Fort Lauderdale Florida showing a natural feel for the concerto s yearning melodies and restless energy 47 He gave his second annual recital in New York City called A Piece for Peace at Weill Recital Hall 9 that included the Prokofiev Piano Sonata No 7 48 Tao also played a program with Orquestra Filarmonica de Minas Gerais in Brazil 49 and performed three recitals at the Irving S Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Michigan where he gave a stupendous performance The first half was elegant Fireworks followed 50 This was followed by performances in Munich Paris Berlin and London 44 51 Tao was one of two Avery Fisher Career Grant awardees for 2012 52 53 Also in 2012 Tao played concerts in Mexico 54 44 and at the Montreal Chamber Fest where his Dvorak pieces stole the show with a once in a lifetime performance of the rarely encountered American Suite he plays music as if the composer were at his side with color joy and spontaneous poetry 55 At the 2012 Aspen Music Festival Tao played Gershwin s Second Rhapsody 56 followed by recitals in Avery Fisher Hall at the Mostly Mozart Festival 57 The same year he performed with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic 58 and his composition Pangǔ an overture like modern piece inspired by the Chinese creation myth was premiered by the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden 23 59 In Toronto Tao played Beethoven s Third Piano Concerto and Liszt s Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 60 and with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra he played Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 3 61 62 He returned to Pacific Symphony to play the Grieg piano concerto with crisply inflected and strongly sculpted fortissimos and effervescent scherzando playing 63 He also played with the Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra at the Concertgebouw 44 In 2013 Tao played Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra 64 and on less than three days notice to replace another pianist he joined St Louis Symphony to play Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 65 He next played Mozart s Piano Concerto No 21 and the Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 with the Hong Kong Philharmonic 66 That year Face the Music s Pannonia Quartet played Tao s String Quartet No 2 67 while Tao performed a recital at the Aspen Music Festival 68 and then was in Switzerland playing Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 with the Bern Symphony Orchestra 69 In Florida he played all five of Beethoven s piano concerti with the Symphony of the Americas 70 and also played the five with the Spokane Symphony 71 On short notice he rejoined Utah Symphony filling in for an ailing soloist in Tchaikovsky s Piano Concerto No 1 72 A New York Times review of Tao s concert previewing pieces from his 2013 album Voyages admired Tao s confident and sensitive playing and the scope of his probing intellect and openhearted vision 73 In between chamber music and concerto performances that year 44 using his cash grants Tao produced and hosted a three night music festival the UNPLAY Festival in New York City in June 2013 which explored the place of classical music in modern culture 74 75 His goal was to challenge the role of music as passive entertainment and the narrow conception of what classical music is for among not only audiences but also musicians and presenters 76 77 Tao guest hosted WQXR s Hammered with a series of episodes in which he played works by modern composers that evoke memory and remembrance 78 He then returned to the Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern to play chamber music 79 Other performances in 2013 included stops in Sweden and Chile 80 He played a recital and concertos by Shostakovich and Mozart with the Santa Fe Pro Musica 81 and opened Pacific Symphony s 35th season with crisp clear eyed and thoroughly musical performances of Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 3 82 With Detroit Symphony Orchestra his Beethoven Piano Concerto No 1 was described as crisp and accurate lively and dynamic and very musical with moments of thoughtful reflection 83 In Brazil he performed the Britten s Piano Concerto with Orquestra Filarmonica de Minas Gerais conducted by Fabio Mechetti 84 He returned to Weill Recital Hall in October for his third annual A Piece for Peace concert playing works by Getty Monk and Ravel 85 Tao again substituted on short notice with the Stamford Symphony Orchestra 86 87 Later in the year Tao premiered an orchestral work that he wrote for Dallas Symphony Orchestra to commemorate the 50th anniversary of JFK s assassination The World Is Very Different Now a line from JFK s 1961 inaugural address 13 88 A review on DFW com called it atmospheric creating shifting moods There are haunting passages that are strikingly appealing though there are few if any sustained well defined melodic lines Instead the work draws listeners by creating moods and with remarkable orchestral color 89 With the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa Canada Tao performed Mozart s Piano Concerto No 19 90 2014 to 2015 editIn 2014 Tao rejoined the Oklahoma City Philharmonic to play Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 illuminating the composer s acerbic wit sly insouciance and unrelenting rhythmic drive 91 He repeated the concerto with the Utah Symphony 92 With the Nashville Symphony he played Ravel s Piano Concerto in G 93 and with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic he played Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody and Liszt s Totentanz 94 He performed Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 3 with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra 95 and played Totentanz and Rhapsody No 6 with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra 96 With the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm he performed Gershwin s Concerto in F followed by recitals and private concerts in Amsterdam Shanghai China and the US as well Saint Saens Piano Concerto No 2 in Pennsylvania 44 97 Tao again played the Saint Saens with the St Louis Symphony 98 followed by concerts in Mexico the Grieg piano concerto with Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and Liszt s Piano Concerto No 1 with Dallas Symphony Orchestra DSO 44 Later in the year he played Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 2 in North Carolina and gave recitals including at the Aspen Music Festival and in Switzerland before playing Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 3 with the Bern Symphony Orchestra 44 He recorded a video for The New York Times playing the final movement of Prokofiev s Piano Sonata No 7 99 He opened the Winston Salem Symphony s season with Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody 100 and played Ravel s Concerto for the Left Hand with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra 101 In October the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra played Tao s Pangǔ and he joined them to play Grieg s Piano Concerto In Amsterdam he made his debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra performing Liszt s Piano Concerto No 1 He played Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 2 in Norway with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra 44 and then reprised the Grieg with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra 102 and Maine s Portland Symphony Orchestra 103 Tao rejoined Baltimore Symphony to play Shostakovich s Piano Concerto No 1 at several venues 104 He opened the New York Youth Symphony season at Carnegie Hall with Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody 44 105 Tao s composition Public Service Announcement dogs and cats was premiered at Merkin Hall in New York City in November by the New York Virtuoso Singers 106 He reprised the Rhapsody in Malaysia and also with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm 107 108 NPR selected Tao s performance of Bach s Toccata in F sharp minor as one of public radio s best in studio performances of 2014 109 Tao played Beethoven s Emperor Concerto among other pieces with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra which also played his piece Pangǔ 110 He played Mozart s Piano Concerto No 21 with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra 111 and at short notice with the Utah Symphony played Beethoven s Piano Concerto No 5 112 He joined the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra to play Mozart s Piano Concerto No 25 with exuberant enchantment and seemingly innate storytelling ability 113 Tao was the 2015 16 DSO Artist in residence with whom he performed Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody 114 Aaron Copland s piano sonata four of Rachmaninoff s Etudes Tableaux Op 39 the violin and piano version of Rachmaninoff s Vocalise Bartok s Contrasts Prokofiev s Piano Sonata No 7 115 and Miklos Rozsa s Spellbound Concerto among other pieces 116 He also composed for the orchestra curated concert programs participated in radio broadcasts and gave recitals and master classes 117 Also in 2015 Tao played Gershwin s Rhapsody in Blue with the Hawaii Youth Symphony 118 and gave several performances with San Diego Symphony playing Shostakovich s Piano Concerto No 1 among other pieces 119 120 With Alabama Symphony Orchestra he played Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 121 He played Beethoven s Emperor Concerto and other works at the Music in the Mountains festival in California 122 Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody with San Francisco Symphony and Gershwin s Rhapsody in Blue with Sun Valley Summer Symphony 118 123 He returned to the Aspen Music Festival to play several programs that included Schumann s Carnaval Poulenc s sextet for piano and wind and Beethoven s Fantasia in C minor 118 124 Later in 2015 Tao premiered his concerto An Adjustment for piano chamber orchestra and iGadgets at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia where he was also the soloist in Saint Saens Piano Concerto No 2 Inspired by Tao s experiences with depression An Adjustment combines in the most imaginative way the current style of spiritual post Romanticism and 90s techno club music 125 10 His Pangǔ was performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Tao joined the orchestra to give a not only thrillingly rhythmical but extraordinarily sensitive account of Gershwin s Concerto in F 126 127 Tao made stops in Europe Brazil and the US to play concerts including a recital based on his album Pictures 118 128 He rejoined Pacific Symphony with Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 129 2016 to 2017 editIn 2016 Tao played Schumann s Piano Concerto with the Tallahassee Symphony in Florida 130 and Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic 131 and Mozart s Concerto No 7 among other pieces with the San Diego Philharmonic 132 With Cincinnati Symphony he played Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody 133 With West Michigan Symphony he played Tchaikovsky s Piano Concerto No 1 134 and next performed the Grieg Piano Concerto in Calgary Karol Szymanowski s Symphony No 4 Symphonie Concertante with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra Tchaikovsky s No 1 with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra 131 and Beethoven s Piano Concerto No 5 with Santa Fe Pro Musica 135 136 With the Swedish Radio Symphony he played Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 4 137 and he played Beethoven s Piano Concerto No 5 with the Berkeley Symphony 138 Tao returned to the DSO to finish his year as artist in residence with a recital and the premiere of his orchestral composition Alice which was inspired by his recurring childhood nightmares sometimes described as Alice in Wonderland syndrome 139 He accompanied the premiere of David Lang s opera The Loser on stage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music 140 Tao played Tchaikovsky s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Giuseppe Verdi Symphonic Orchestra in Milan Italy and his composition I got a wiggle that I just can t shake was premiered by the Pacific Symphony 131 He played Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 3 with Virginia Symphony Orchestra 141 Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody with the Hawaii Symphony Grieg s Piano Concerto with the Nashville Symphony 142 both Schumann s Piano Concerto and Beethoven s Piano Concerto No 5 at the National Arts Centre in Canada 143 Szymanowski s Symphony No 4 with the Szczecin Philharmonic in Poland 144 and Bernstein s Symphony No 2 The Age of Anxiety with Staatskapelle Halle in Germany 145 He also played Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 2 with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico Schumann s Piano Concerto with the Peninsula Symphony 146 Gershwin s Concerto in F with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Italy 131 and Gershwin s Rhapsody in Blue with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra 147 In 2017 he gave a recital for the Van Cliburn Foundation in Dallas 148 and a concert with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto playing Charles Ives Piano Trio and the Dvorak Piano Trio No 3 in F Minor With Portland Ovations in Maine he played the same two trios plus the Haydn Piano Trio No 39 in G Major Among other concerts he played with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Jalisco of Guadalajara Mexico and gave recitals at the Aspen Music Festival 131 With the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in Arizona he performed Gershwin s I Got Rhythm Variations Rhapsody in Blue and Copland s Suite from Billy the Kid 149 He premiered his own free form piano concerto The Oneiroi in New York with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra in Palm Beach Gardens Florida 150 Tao was the Hong Kong Philharmonic s 2017 artist in residence with whom he premiered his swallow harbor 151 He played the Grieg piano concert with Stamford Symphony in Connecticut 152 and his own concerto An Adjustment with Sioux City Symphony Orchestra 153 With Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra he played his piece Pangǔ and Gershwin s Concerto in F 154 Winston Salem s symphony orchestra performed his The world is very different now and he joined them to perform Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 155 Tao played Mozart s Piano Concerto No 8 at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego California 156 and Khachaturian s piano concerto with the Grant Park Orchestra in Chicago 157 before returning to the Aspen Music Festival 158 With Philadelphia Orchestra he played Rachmaninoff s Piano Concert No 2 159 and with the Columbus ProMusica Chamber Orchestra he premiered his own work for piano and orchestra Over and played Haydn s Keyboard Concerto 11 160 With Eugene Symphony he played Ravel s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand and Liszt s Totentanz and with Spokane Symphony he returned to Saint Saens Piano Concerto No 2 161 He then played Schumann s Piano Concerto with Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Later in 2017 he made his Lincoln Center recital debut where he received an Emerging Artist Award 162 and returned to Berkeley to play Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody and Liszt s Totentanz 163 He wrote an encore All I Had Forgotten Or Tried To inspired by Kevin Killian s collection of erotic fiction Impossible Princess 164 Since 2018 editIn early 2018 in addition to recitals Tao s schedule included Bernstein s The Age of Anxiety with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra 165 Prokofiev s Second Piano Concerto with Seattle 166 Schumann s Piano Concerto with the Santa Fe Pro Musica 167 and Gershwin s Concerto in F with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra with which he toured Poland in March 2018 168 He also formed the JCT Trio with violinist Stefan Jackiw and cellist Jay Campbell In contrast to Tao s solo recitals which focus on unconventional programming the JCT Trio programs traditional repertoire 36 In April he joined Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to perform Shostakovich s Piano Concerto No 1 169 and Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra for Bartok s Piano Concert No 3 170 The same month Tao s violin sonata Threads of Contact premiered by Paul Huang and commissioned by Washington Performing Arts for whom Tao has been a recitalist was performed at the Kennedy Center 171 In May Tao s dance composition More Forever was premiered by Caleb Teicher and Company in New York City 172 beginning an ongoing collaboration with Teicher 173 Tao was nominated for a 2019 Bessie Award for Musical Composition of More Forever 174 Tao returned to Aspen in June 175 In September the New York Philharmonic premiered Tao s Everything Must Go the fifth Tao work premiered by conductor Jaap van Zweden the piece was commissioned as a prelude to Bruckner s Symphony No 8 and takes inspiration from that piece 176 177 In October he again performed with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra 178 In November Tao performed Tchaikovsky s Piano Concerto No 1 with San Diego Symphony 179 In January 2019 Tao repeated Teicher s More Forever at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and then on tour and also continued to collaborate with Jackiw in Vancouver Canada at the 92nd Street Y in New York and on tour 180 181 The next month he reprised his performance in Lang s The Loser this time with the Los Angeles Opera 182 In March he performed Chopin s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Pacific Symphony 180 In May he performed Ravel s Piano Concerto with Colorado Symphony 183 and Beethoven s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic 184 In July Tao together with violinist Stefan Jackiw and cellist Jay Campbell who frequently perform as the JCT Trio played Beethoven s Triple Concerto with Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in July 185 The same month with Cleveland Orchestra he played Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 186 and with the New York Philharmonic at Bravo Vail he played Beethoven s Piano Concerto No 2 187 Also in 2019 Tao gave a recital at Carnegie Hall s Weill Recital Hall 188 189 Reputation as a pianist editTeenage performances edit Rick Schulz of the Los Angeles Times wrote of a concert by the 16 year old Tao In a dashing account of Rachmaninoff s Rhapsody his attacks were crisp with rhythmically tricky high velocity passages cleanly articulated Tao avoided sentimentality his concentration drawing us into the composer s spare and witty work as few virtuosos of any age can do 34 Of his 2012 performance of Tchaikovsky s Piano Concerto No 1 Catherine Reese Newton of The Salt Lake Tribune commented Not only did Tao demonstrate prodigious technique and a decisive attack in the outer movements of the concerto he showed reflective musicianship in the slow movement His encore was a dazzling performance of Liszt s Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 45 Of Tao s Prokofiev Piano Sonata No 7 Justin Davidson wrote in New York Magazine No 17 year old should be able to do justice to one of the most bleakly adult pieces in the literature yet he played it with aggressive charm and flashes of genuine wisdom 48 Lawrence Johnson of The Detroit News reviewed Tao s performance the same year of Saint Saens Piano Concerto No 2 Tao blew the doors off the concerto with a performance that was no less seductive in its lyrical beauty than hair raising in its technical brilliance The opening an expansive toccata like solo flight provided the perfect stage to announce a pianist of formidable technique acute sensibility and excellent training The concerto proper bore out every promise of the unaccompanied prelude Tao s playing displayed fine shades of color and intensity whether the passage at hand demanded reflection or flamboyance Surely as impressive as the young pianist s capacity for whirlwind speed was his poetic disposition and the sheer finesse that ruled his playing 46 At the 2012 Aspen Music Festival Tao delivered the most arresting performance attacking Gershwin s Second Rhapsody with a lethal combination of power rhythmic thrust technical perfection and sheer joy 56 The following year on less than three days notice to replace an ailing pianist Tao played Prokofiev s Piano Concerto No 3 with insouciant ease and apparent enjoyment flair and musicality 190 Of Tao s performance of all five of Beethoven s piano concerti that year David Fleshler commented in South Florida Classical Review The mastery he displayed was more than the predictable brilliance of the grown up prodigy it was a performance that brought out the nobility the eloquence and the dramatic power of these works 191 Larry Lapidus of The Spokesman Review called the five concerti a richly rewarding indeed unforgettable musical experience noting that Tao played the lengthy and difficult Concerto No 1 without a flaw not a missed or imperfectly struck note not a careless or routine phrase not a poorly voiced chord 71 Richard Todd of the Ottawa Citizen termed Tao s Piano Concerto No 19 by Mozart with National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa Canada almost startling in its clarity of sound and purpose 90 Since 2014 edit In 2014 Matt Dixon wrote of Tao s Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 3 The level of precision on display was beyond impressive and the closing minutes of the third and final movement revealed an energy that was simply exhilarating Tao s approach to the music itself was dynamic unusually expressive and engaging with the technical mastery always serving to aid in the interpretation 92 Margaret Sandresky of the Winston Salem Journal commented of his Rachmaninoff Rhapsody Tao realized with ease both the prodigious technical difficulties and the many varied expressive demands of the piece leading the orchestra players on a merry chase as the difficult passage work streamed from his fingers like mercury 100 Scott Smith of The Baltimore Sun stated of his performance of Shostakovich Piano Concerto No 1 that Tao possesses an ability to communicate clearly no matter how thorny a score may become Tao brought remarkable spontaneity and colorful phrasing There was always musicality not just virtuosity 104 Of his Rachmaninoff Rhapsody Gregory Sullivan Isaacs of TheaterJones judged that Tao displayed impeccable technique clean and crystal clear bordering on brittle Some warmth throughout not just in the lush melodic parts would have been welcome This is not to say that his performance lacked nuance because there were many lovely turns of phrases However it left the impression that he was impatient to get through the slow parts and back to the flights of virtuosity But there is no denying Tao s brilliance and technical mastery All of the above reservations about the performance are the sins of the young 114 In the Mozart Piano Concerto No 21 in 2015 according to Matt Palm of the Orlando Sentinel Tao s energetic work blended seamlessly with his fellow musicians to create both elegance and exuberance 111 Scott Cantrell of The Dallas Morning News called Tao s Aaron Copland piano sonata gripping finely timed and layered but the rhythmic quirks of the scherzo would have been set in higher relief at a marginally slower pace and thought of his Rachmaninoff Etudes Tableaux Op 39 that the F sharp minor felt a bit pressed and the D minor was pushed and pulled about too much The A minor was ravishing though and the D major was genuinely exciting 115 Steven Kruger of New York Arts wrote that Tao s was the best performance of the Rachmaninoff Paganini Variations I have ever heard on or off disc Tao was so vivid he might as well have been Gershwin at the keyboard Every note was electric And the last movement of the Prokofiev Seventh Sonata offered as an encore simply made everyone s jaw drop 123 Peter Dobrin of Philly com wrote that in Saint Saens Piano Concerto No 2 Tao kept his monstrous technique on a leash and used it for sincerity and wit waiting a split second in certain entrances for a flash of humor or holding back for emphasis The opening was moving and the way he paced mounting intensity in the last minutes uncovered the best in this work 125 In a performance of Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No 3 in 2016 John Shulson of The Virginia Gazette commented that Tao s performance was one of the most thrilling to be heard on stage with this symphony Tao was the master of the Rachmaninoff and its many moods offering inspired lyricism and ponderous power 141 John Pitcher of Nashville Scene wrote that in the Grieg Tao emphasized the concerto s showy side but there was more than mere razzle dazzle He was an imaginative tonal colorist who used the piano s sustain pedal to create a wash of prismatic overtones He also commented of Tao s encore Carter s fiendishly difficult cerebral piece Catenaires that the audience listened with breathless excitement In the end they roared their approval giving Tao a sustained ovation 142 In the Ottawa Citizen Natasha Gauthier judged that Tao brought an original modernist sensibility to the Schumann Concerto and Beethoven s Emperor Concerto She noted Tao has a trick of subtly emphasizing bass lines and syncopations in a way that sounds fresh yet organic never forced or overblown He has huge technique and facility but it s his relaxed almost jazzy approach to the music that stood out The Schumann was all restless energy and shifting interior light The Beethoven had a lively prancing magnificence vivid as a film An encore of Catenaires had both meticulous control and lethal attack 143 Of Tao s performance of Schumann s piano concerto with the Pacific Symphony Ken Iisaka of San Francisco Classical Voice commented With clear articulate lines Robert Schumann s passionate ardor towards Clara was expressed with determination through deliberate tempos Rather than letting the music be overly sentimental rendering it a torrent of rage Tao illustrated its volatile bipolar personality with an unusual level of clarity and dryness It almost felt as if the music gave a third person account of the composer rather than the music being by Schumann himself Tao s fresh perspective laid strong emphasis on the music s architecture 146 Another reviewer thought that in his rendition of Rhapsody in Blue Tao bent the rhythms at times showing his mastery of jazz style without disturbing his rapport with the accompanying Asheveille Symphony orchestra He found connections and bridges that I had been unaware of observed pauses that emphasized the importance of silence in the midst of music and generally convinced the audience that this was a performance to remember 147 Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times reviewed one of Tao s Crypt Sessions recitals at the Church of the Intercession in Harlem New York Tao substituted on two days notice for an ailing David Greilsammer writing In the crypt the sheer volume of Mr Tao s sound during frenzied climaxes of Frederic Rzewski s Which Side Are You On was near deafening yet exhilarating It was fascinating though to hear Mr Tao draw out every dissonance statured vehement element of Copland s piano sonata while also bringing affecting tranquillity to the pensive conclusion of the last movement 152 Of his 2018 performance of Gershwin s Concerto in F with the Buffalo Philharmonic Mary Kunz Goldman wrote Tao has a fine percussive touch He hammers away at the piece with flawless staccato energy The end of the first movement was so tumultuous and perfectly calibrated that the crowd burst into illicit applause The Andante movement had a bluesy bittersweet quality The concluding Allegro brought Tao back to attack mode The snap bang ending brought the listeners to their feet happy and shouting 168 Mark Gresham writing in ArtsATL called Tao s performance of Shostakovich s Piano Concerto No 1 brilliantly virtuosic and he joined the critics who have particularly remarked upon Tao s playing of his encore Catenaires calling it perhaps the most adventurous encore to be heard on the ASO stage in a long long time It was by far the ear opener of the evening 169 Reviewing Tao s 2019 debut with Cleveland Orchestra Zachary Lewis commented Technique Tao had it in spades He found warmth nuance and haunting expression where many see little more than virtuoso display Besides a ferocious but still sparkling third movement the highlight was the Andantino Tao ably guided his listeners through the eerie twisted thicket that is a set of variations conversing gently with his colleagues all the way 186 Recordings editIn early 2012 Tao released his first solo recording with EMI Classics an EP The Juilliard Sessions Conrad Tao Plays Debussy and Stravinsky 192 193 Justin Davidson wrote of this album he plays his confidently poetic Three Songs which hold their own with a pair of Debussy preludes and Stravinsky s Three Movements from Petrushka 48 Peter Joelson wrote The Debussy Preludes are thoroughly in his bones but the Stravinsky I must say is given a breathtakingly good account Technically faultless and interpretively mature this is a knock out 194 The same year Tao released a synthpop album Eyelids 195 and a recording of Mozart s Piano Concertos Nos 17 and 25 with Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra 196 In early 2013 Tao released an album Gordon Getty Piano Pieces on the PENTATONE label 197 198 Tao s debut full length solo album on EMI Classics Voyages featuring Tao s compositions together with pieces by Meredith Monk Rachmaninoff and Ravel was released on June 11 2013 199 The album reached No 8 on the Billboard Classical Albums chart 200 Allmusic rates the album four stars out of five 201 Davidson wrote The playing induces shivers The Rachmaninoff C minor prelude Op 23 No 7 gushes out in quiet cataracts lyrical and shimmering a tour de force of delicacy and power 202 Despite Tao s skepticism about a classical music establishment that is grossly normative capitalistic and steeped in established unchallenged practices commented one reviewer Voyages is perfect in all the conventional ways masterfully performed and composed cleanly produced and impeccably sequenced It s an absolute joy to hear him fly through each of these pieces the essences of which are not overwhelmed but rather recontextualized given new life Tao has the creative mind to think of them in new ways 203 Fanfare magazine also gave the album a very warm review 204 and the producers of the album were nominated for a Grammy Award 205 A reviewer for NPR wrote Tao proves himself to be a musician of deep intellectual and emotional means Tao is a prodigiously talented pianist but he also emerges as a thoughtful and mature composer as his four movement Vestiges for solo piano demonstrates W hat s going to matter to listeners is what he makes them feel and on Voyages the pianist journeys along varied and alluring pathways from the dreamy contemplation of the Ravel Ondine Wave movement to the jaggedly darting upon being section from his Vestiges His playing is strong and sure and the effect is transcendent and beautiful 206 In 2015 Tao released Pictures an album of piano music on the Warner Classics label It features Mussorgsky s Pictures at an Exhibition together with works by Elliott Carter Toru Takemitsu David Lang and Tao 207 208 In 2019 he released another album American Rage 209 He followed this in 2021 with Bricolage together with the brass quartet The Westerlies 210 References edit a b c d Jepson Barbara The Tao of Early Musical Success The Wall Street Journal April 1 2008 accessed November 4 2011 Pasternak Jill Crossing Boundaries from Past to Future Pianist Conrad Tao on Crossover WRTI org June 1 2013 a b c d Scholars Archived 2012 05 17 at the Wayback Machine Presidential Scholars Foundation accessed November 28 2011 a b c d e Conrad Tao Juilliard School of Music 2008 accessed April 20 2012 Shellenbarger Sue Raising an Accidental Prodigy Wall Street Journal March 30 2011 accessed November 2 2011 Twelve year old Piano Prodigy appearing at Skaneateles Festival Archived 2013 11 09 at the Wayback Machine Eagle Newspapers August 10 2007 accessed June 3 2013 Show 107 Archived 2011 11 04 at the Wayback Machine From the Top 2004 accessed November 4 2011 Season 1 Episode 13 From the Top At Carnegie Hall 2007 accessed November 4 2011 and Show 232 Archived 2011 11 04 at the Wayback Machine From the Top 2011 accessed November 4 2011 Conrad Tao talks about his experience on From the Top Pacific Symphony YouTube January 10 2014 a b c Schweitzer Vivien A Promising Star Rising Above the Horizon The New York Times February 29 2012 a b c The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia Featuring Conrad Tao October 18 5 PM on WRTI WRTI October 13 2015 Davidson Fellows 2008 Davidson Institute for Talent Development accessed January 22 2012 Kosman Joshua Rumors are true about Conrad Tao SFGate com November 4 2008 accessed November 4 2011 a b Shulman Laurie Program Notes JFK Memorial Concert Nov 21 24 Archived 2013 12 03 at the Wayback Machine Dallas Symphony Orchestra November 11 2013 Carson L Pierce Wunderkind Conrad Tao Ponti and Russian National Orchestra combine for spectacular musical magic at Festival del Sole Napa Valley Register July 18 2007 accessed May 2 2012 a b Conrad Tao biography PENTATONE accessed September 4 2014 a b Conrad Tao Archived 2012 10 17 at the Wayback Machine IMGArtists com accessed January 13 2013 Goldsmith Harris 2008 Young Artists More Thrills of Discovery Musical America 2008 accessed February 16 2012 Walker Cassie First Class Chicago Magazine July 2009 accessed November 28 2011 video interview of Tao YoungArts YouTube channel May 31 2012 accessed November 25 2014 Dunn Jeff Spaced Out Mussorgsky San Francisco Classical Voice May 5 2009 accessed November 4 2011 a b c Conrad Tao Archived 2012 10 28 at the Wayback Machine TheGilmore org accessed November 2 2011 Conrad Tao The Juilliard School 2007 accessed January 21 2013 a b c d Oksenhorn Stewart Music festival Tao thanks Aspen for lack of direction Archived 2012 07 01 at the Wayback Machine The Aspen Times June 28 2012 Where Dreams Begin Interview with Conrad Tao Aspen Music Festival and School YouTube com November 7 2013 Van Cleve Emily Pianist to Play Mozart Saturday Albuquerque Journal April 20 2012 Rosenthal Fran Piano Prodigy Conrad Tao in Recital permanent dead link Arizona Musicfest 2011 accessed April 20 2012 Battey Robert The Baltimore Symphony Conrad Tao the BBC Concert Orchestra The Washington Post November 8 2010 accessed November 4 2011 Newton Catherine Reese Crowd rhapsodic over teen s Rach The Salt Lake Tribune October 9 2010 accessed May 2 2012 Davidson Fellow Laureate Conrad Tao Davidson Institute for Talent Development accessed January 22 2012 Alonso Nathalie Pianist Conrad Tao CC 15 Explores His Relationship to Music Columbia College Today Summer 2013 published online at columbia edu on January 9 2014 Spotlights Conrad Tao Archived 2012 04 22 at the Wayback Machine Indiana University High School School of Continuing Studies 2010 accessed April 20 2012 Ostertag Emily Conrad Tao between music and academics Columbia Spectator January 19 2012 Sulcas Roslyn Here Some Promising Young Dancers There Some Well Seasoned Pros The New York Times March 23 2011 accessed November 3 2011 a b Schultz Rick Music review Conrad Tao Plays Rachmaninoff with Carl St Clair and the Pacific Symphony Los Angeles Times June 3 2011 accessed November 2 2011 Huebner Michael At 20 ASO soloist Conrad Tao taking classical world by storm Archived 2015 05 29 at the Wayback Machine artsBHAM com May 27 2015 a b May Thomas Conrad Tao Is Reshaping the Image of the Piano Virtuoso for the 21st Century Playbill March 6 2018 Chism Olin Sub in Cliburn Concert proves spectacular Archived 2012 07 31 at archive today DFW com September 13 2011 Gay Wayne Lee In Second Visit to North Texas Piano Prodigy Conrad Tao Dazzles Cliburn Audience D Magazine September 14 2011 Cantrell Scott Classical Music Review 17 year old pianist amazes at Cliburn Concerts Dallas News September 14 2011 Greenburg Zack O Malley 30 Under 30 The Youngest Stars in the Music Business Forbes magazine December 19 2011 Prizes for young Americans Archived 2013 04 26 at the Wayback Machine Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern January 5 2012 accessed April 20 2012 IU High School senior Conrad Tao named 2011 Presidential Scholar in the Arts NewsInfo iu edu May 9 2011 accessed November 2 2011 Bash James Gilmore Young Artists Awards announced Archived 2012 04 19 at the Wayback Machine Oregon Music News June 27 2011 accessed November 2 2011 a b c d e f g h i j History Archived 2013 05 08 at the Wayback Machine Calendar archive at conradtao com accessed December 20 2012 a b Newton Catherine Reese Utah Symphony catches a rising star pianist Conrad Tao The Salt Lake Tribune January 6 2012 a b Johnson Lawrence B Piano phenom 17 makes a blazing debut with the DSO The Detroit News January 22 2012 Fleshler David Conrad Tao 17 shows fully mature virtuosity in Rachmaninoff South Florida Classical Review January 24 2012 a b c Davidson Justin The Vulnerable Age New York Magazine March 25 2012 Pianista norte americano Conrad Tao se apresenta com Orquestra Filarmonica de Minas Gerais Divirta Se April 12 2012 Kaczmarczyk Jeffrey Gilmore Young Artist Conrad Tao gives stupendous performance in recital at Calvin College Michigan Live May 2 2012 Thirouin Joseph Avec Conrad Tao le bis permanent ResMusica May 11 2012 in French Kaczmarczyk Jeffrey Pianist Conrad Tao 2012 Gilmore Young Artist now awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant Michigan Live May 30 2012 Sherman Bob The McGraw Hill Companies Young Artists Showcase WQXR org May 30 2012 Malhotra Anita Interview with Conrad Tao Artsmania com November 12 2012 accessed June 25 2014 Vittes Laurence Part VIII It s a Wrap Dvorak Dvorak Dvorak at the Montreal Chamber Fest AllThingsStrings com June 4 2012 a b Steiman Harvey Spano McGegan and raft of pianists lift Aspen Music Fest opening weekend Archived 2013 03 04 at the Wayback Machine The Aspen Times July 3 2012 Oestreich James R Varied Colorful Elements United in Performance The New York Times August 9 2012 Rogers Rick Oklahoma City Philharmonic opens 24th season in grand fashion Look at OKC NewsOK com September 18 2012 Wu Dennis The glorious inauguration of Jaap van Zweden as HKPO s music director Dennis Wu English Reviews September 29 2012 Todd Richard Concert Review Conrad Tao gives Beethoven concerto intelligent treatment Archived 2012 10 09 at the Wayback Machine The Ottawa Citizen September 28 2012 Siegel Steve Top Lehigh Valley classical concerts of 2012 The Morning Call December 26 2012 Siegel Steve Teen pianist jaw dropping in Rachmaninoff with ASO The Morning Call posted to Lehigh Valley Music October 8 2012 Mangan Timothy A touch of Tao with Pacific Symphony standards The Orange County Register October 19 2012 Shostakovich Triumphant Archived 2013 04 15 at archive today Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra February 19 2013 Miller Sarah Bryan SLSO A change of pianists for this weekend St Louis Post Dispatch January 29 2013 Olluver Sam Jaap van Zweden puts fresh manpower into Mahler South China Morning Post 18 February 2013 Baryshnikov Arts Center Presents Face the Music JACK Quartet Baryshnikov Arts Center March 19 2013 Conrad Tao piano at the Wheeler Opera House Aspen Music Festival March 16 2013 Tao Conrad Calendar archive Bern Switzerland March 21 22 2013 Stepanich Greg Conrad Tao Bringing back the composer performer permanent dead link Palm Beach ArtsPaper 9 April 2013 a b Lapidus Larry Virtuoso Conrad Tao carries Beethoven s burden for Spokane Symphony The Spokesman Review May 13 2013 Burger David Conrad Tao replaces flu stricken Louis Lortie at this weekend s Utah Symphony performances The Salt Lake City Tribune April 15 2013 Da Fonseca Wollheim Corinna So What Will He Do When 20 The New York Times May 24 2013 Smith Steve Lauded but Not Resting on His Laurels The New York Times June 12 2013 Payne Jenny Drop the bass Conrad Tao to release new album Columbia Spectator May 1 2013 Tao Conrad UNPLAY Festival accessed April 16 2013 Zhang Jingxuan Infusing New Vibrancy into the Oldies Introducing Conrad Tao Archived 2013 08 05 at the Wayback Machine WQXR July 15 2013 Smith Steve Unplay Festival Time Out New York May 29 2013 Pianist Composer Conrad Tao Hosts Hammered WQXR July 8 2013 Freizeit Musik mit Puppenspieler Archived 2013 11 09 at the Wayback Machine Nordkurier August 1 2013 in German Bienvenu Loren The composer s perspective Conrad Tao Pasatiempo magazine Santa Fe New Mexico September 13 2013 Keller James M Pasa Reviews Taking it Slow Pasatiempo September 27 2013 Mangan Timothy For good and ill Tao and Pacific have a blast Teen pianist offers a nuanced Rachmaninoff Orange County Register September 27 2013 Anderson Colin Detroit Symphony Orchestra Leonard Slatkin Copland amp Tchaikovsky Conrad Tao plays Beethoven live webcast Classicalsource com October 11 2013 Osesp convida Filarmonica Archived 2013 10 18 at the Wayback Machine Filarmonica art October 17 2013 in Portuguese O Sullivan Justine Opening Hearts and Minds to Peace Tanenbaum org October 25 2013 Johnson Jeffrey Stamford Symphony Last Minute Magic Stamford Advocate Young Pianist Steps In To Play With Stamford Symphony Stamford Daily Voice November 8 2013 Oestreich James R A Dallas Concert Honors a Loss That s 50 Years Old The New York Times November 22 2013 Chism Olin Dallas Symphony Orchestra s JFK memorial concert Archived 2013 12 02 at the Wayback Machine DFW com November 23 2013 a b Todd Richard Mozart Shostakovich mix proved a rare blend Archived 2013 12 01 at the Wayback Machine Ottawa Citizen November 28 2013 Rogers Rick Oklahoma City Philharmonic review Sizzling Sparklers shine The Oklahoman January 14 2014 a b Dixon Matt Powerful Moving Performance by Utah Symphony Friday Reichel Recommends February 1 2014 Newton Catherine Reese Review Pianist Conrad Tao is in his element at Abravanel Hall Archived 2014 02 03 at the Wayback Machine The Salt Lake Tribune January 31 2014 Pitcher John Music Review Nashville Symphony puts the pedals to the metal in Saint Saens Organ Symphony ArtsNash February 8 2014 Sckolnik David Tao tops Tchaikovsky The Gazette Colorado Springs February 15 2014 Conrad Tao Piano Classix Five Reno Philharmonic accessed March 3 2014 DeLong Kenneth Review Hungarian Rhapsodies provoked by gifted Conrad Tao Calgary Herald March 8 2014 Conrad Tao s busy spring Performance Today American Public Media May 6 2014 Miller Sarah Bryan Classical music review Slatkin leads concert of fun and virtuosity with SLSO St Louis Post Dispatch April 25 2014 Cooper Michael In Performance Conrad Tao The New York Times September 2 2014 a b Sandresky Margaret Audience enthusiastic as Moody celebrates 10th anniversary at symphony Winston Salem Journal September 21 2014 Kelley Annie J Symphony explores the history of the movie soundtrack Battle Creek Enquirer September 24 2014 Kustanczy Catherine Toronto Symphony sparkles despite flashy soloist debut Bachtrack October 20 2014 Hyde Christopher Portland Symphony Orchestra s Sunday concert confuses with questionable musical choices Maine Today October 27 2014 a b Smith Tim Pianist Conrad Tao an explosive force in the BSO s latest program The Baltimore Sun October 31 2014 NYYS Season 52 Announced Archived 2014 09 07 at the Wayback Machine NYYS org accessed September 7 2014 Young Composers Concert Kaufman Music Center November 15 2014 and Public Service Announcement dogs and cats Conrad Tao November 21 2014 20 ariga stjarnskottet Conrad Tao Archived 2014 12 12 at archive today P2 Live December 12 2014 Ferrada Noli Nicholas Ringskog Conrad Tao pa Berwaldhallen DN Kultur December 15 2014 in Swedish Watch Public Radio s Best In Studio Performances of 2014 NPR December 23 2014 accessed March 7 2015 Alexander Peter With the Boulder Phil Conrad Tao conquers audience Beethoven and Elliott Carter Sharpsandflatirons com January 18 2015 a b Palm Matt Review Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra s Tao Plays Mozart Orlando Sentinel February 21 2015 Newton Catherine Reese Review Utah Symphony Conrad Tao give a concert to please emperors and commoners alike The Salt Lake Tribune March 6 2015 Sherrod Alan A Young Soloist and Guest Conductor Lead KSO to an Emotional Performance The Knoxville Mercury March 23 2015 a b Isaacs Gregory Sullivan The Dallas Symphony goes out of its comfort zone with a young living electronic composer plus an admirable performance from artist in residence Conrad Tao TheaterJones com January 16 2015 a b Cantrell Scott Classical music Conrad Tao and friends play Rachmaninoff Bartok and Copland The Dallas Morning News May 9 2015 and Smith Linda Soluna Review Copland Bartok TheaterJones May 10 2015 Womack Catherine Dallas Symphony Balances Accessibility and Artistry in Soluna ReMix Performance Dmagazine May 11 2015 Dallas Symphony Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant Dallas Symphony Orchestra December 5 2014 and Dallas Symphony Consulate General of Mexico in Dallas Announce 2014 15 Season Partnership Dallas Symphony Orchestra October 28 2014 a b c d Conrad Tao Past Archived 2016 01 29 at the Wayback Machine ConradTao com accessed January 23 2016 Chute James Fate smiles on Ken David Masur U T San Diego May 1 2015 Harris Garrett Show thief Conrad Tao runs away with the entire evening at San Diego Symphony San Diego Reader May 5 2015 Huebner Michael Tao ASO combine for thrilling season closer Archived 2015 05 31 at the Wayback Machine artsBHAM May 30 2015 Arrington Debbie Pianist Conrad Tao makes exuberant music his way The Sacramento Bee June 25 2015 a b Kruger Steven Summer Russians The San Francisco Symphony Edwin Outwater conductor Conrad Tao piano New York Arts August 24 2015 Steiman Harvey Review A Glorious Concerto for Orchestra Highlights the Weekend Aspen Times August 17 2015 a b Dobrin Peter Review A screen test for Chamber Orchestra Philly com September 22 2015 Kanny Mark America stars in composer s thrilling music Triblive com October 31 2015 Bloom Elizabeth Pianist captures Gershwin s charisma in Pittsburgh Symphony debut Pittsburgh Post Gazette November 2 2015 Hathaway Daniel Tuesday Musical pianist Conrad Tao at E J Thomas Hall ClevelandClassical com November 24 2015 Mangan Timothy Threes are the charm for Pacific Symphony Orange County Register December 4 2015 Devotion and Dance Tallahassee Symphony January 9 2016 a b c d e Conrad Tao Past Shows Archived 2017 05 09 at the Wayback Machine ConradTao com accessed April 26 2016 Hertzog Christian Arnaldo Cohen shines in SD Symphony debut The San Diego Union Tribune January 31 2016 Hutton Mary Ellyn A round of appreciation for CSO debut Cincinnati com March 4 2016 Conrad Tao WMS Rehearsal Video West Michigan Symphony on Facebook March 3 2016 Keller James M Return of the prodigy Conrad Tao Santa Fe New Mexican April 22 2016 Keller James M Weekend warrior Pianist Conrad Tao Pasatiempo The New Mexican April 29 2016 Conrad Tao i jazzig pianokonsert Stephane Deneve i arlig karleksmusik Sveriges Radio May 13 2016 MacBean James Roy Berkeley Symphony Plays Lutoslawski and Beethoven The Berkeley Daily Planet February 5 2016 and Latulippe David Berkeley Symphony Broadcasts KALW May 2 2016 Geyer Christina A 21 Year Old Music Prodigy Takes Dallas by Storm PaperCity Magazine May 31 2016 and Coffelt J Robin Pipe Dreams Archived August 19 2016 at the Wayback Machine TheaterJones com June 5 2016 Prose Francine The Music of Blighted Dreams New York Review of Books September 13 2016 and Jorden James Cold Ironic Opera The loser Hovers Over Brooklyn Academy of Music Observer com September 8 2016 a b Shulson John Virginia Symphony Orchestra starts season with fireworks The Virginia Gazette September 28 2016 a b Pitcher John The Biggest Attraction of the Nashville Symphony s Program Was a Blast From the Past Nashville Scene October 13 2016 a b Gauthier Natasha Jubilant fresh takes on Beethoven Schumann from NACO Ottawa Citizen October 19 2016 Szykuje sie niezapomniany weekend Odwiedzi nas sporo gwiazd Wszczecinie pl October 20 2016 Polish language Lange Von Joachim Impuls Festival Wenn die Gewissheiten sturzen Mitteldeutsche Zeitung October 26 2016 a b Iisaka Ken Peninsula Symphony and Conrad Tao Take Schumann Deep San Francisco Classical Voice November 8 2016 a b McIrvine Ted Conrad Tao and the ASO Present Copland Diamond and Gershwin CVNC org November 19 2016 Gay Wayne Lee Decking the Hall TheatreJones com January 21 2017 Burch Cathalena E Wow Piano protege Conrad Tao just took our breath away Arizona Daily Star February 17 2017 Hearn Rex Tao s new concerto a triumph at Atlantic Classical Palm Beach Arts Paper March 23 2017 Cityscape in sound Conrad Tao s swallow harbor Hong Kong Financial Times April 24 2017 subscription required a b Tommasini Anthony Review A Pianist Brings American Rage to a Church Crypt The New York Times April 7 2017 Miller Bruce R New music and ideas highlight final symphony concert of season Sioux City Journal April 29 2017 Blair Lindsay Tedrin Lexington Philharmonic seizes the spotlight in season finale Lexington Herald Leader May 13 2017 and Copley Rich Onetime piano prodigy returns to Philharmonic as soloist and composer Lexington Herald Leader May 11 2017 Lindeman Timothy H Winston Salem Symphony Season Finale Features Exciting Performances by Conrad Tao CVNC org May 20 2017 Overton Marcus Michael Francis leads Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra and pianist Conrad Tao down a marvelous path San Diego Tribune June 11 2017 Johnson Lawrence A Pianist Tao makes impressive Grant Park debut with Khachaturian concerto Chicago Classical Review June 24 2017 Steiman Harvey Aspen Music Festival review Tao stretches boundaries from Mozart to Glass The Aspen Times July 11 2017 Freedman Geraldine Philadelphia Orchestra delivers rousing opening to season at SPAC The Daily Gazette August 4 2017 Lancaster Boyce Conrad Tao Talks with Boyce Lancaster about his World Premiere Performance with ProMusica WOSU Radio October 7 2017 Lapidus Larry Concert review Conrad Tao spins gold with the Spokane Symphony The Spokesman Review October 22 2017 Barone Joshua Brazen Virtuosity The Week s 8 Best Classical Music Moments on YouTube The New York Times December 8 2017 Balik Jessica Berkeley Symphony With Pianist Conrad Tao Leaves the Audience Searching for Their Socks San Francisco Classical Voice December 11 2017 Impossible Princess was in turn inspired by Kylie Minogue s album of the same name See Conrad Tao s All I Had Forgotten Or Tried To 2017 92nd Street Y January 25 2019 Bernstein at 100 TimeOut com January 2018 Kiraly Philippa Lee Hagen and Tao Shine in Prokofiev Fest s First Night at Seattle Symphony The SunBreak January 20 2018 Keller James M Home away from home Conrad Tao Santafenewmexican com January 26 2018 a b Goldman Mary Kunz Concert shows that high energy BPO is ready for Poland The Buffalo News March 10 2018 a b Gresham Mark Review ASO guest pianist Conrad Tao steals the show with his adventurous encore ArtsATL com April 13 2018 Turnevicius Leonard The year in classical music The Hamilton Spectator December 26 2018 Midgette Anne Paul Huang nurtures the new amid the canon The Washington Post April 29 2018 and Niles Laurie Interview with Violinist Paul Huang Playing the Wieniawski del Gesu and Returning to Kennedy Center Violinist com April 24 2018 9 Dance Performances to See in N Y C This Weekend The New York Times May 17 2018 Huizenga Tom Bach on Tap Shoes Tiptoeing Through The Goldberg Variations NPR October 3 2018 and Works amp Process at the Guggenheim presents the World Premiere of Caleb Teicher amp Co with Conrad Tao More Forever 1 6 7 ArtVoice December 12 2018 Stigler Britt Bessie Awards reveal this year s nominees and special prizes WLIW July 11 2019 Travers Andrew Soprano Susanna Phillips and a star studded opening week at the Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Times June 28 2018 Tommasini Anthony The Philharmonic Puts a Young Composer s Twist on Bruckner The New York Times September 28 2018 Bennett II James A Tease of Conrad Tao s Everything Must Go WQXR September 28 2018 Malkki Susanna Concerts with Conrad Tao and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Susanna Malkki September 26 2018 Herman Ken Excitement at the San Diego Symphony Conrad Tao s Electrifying Account of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto and a Premiere by Javier Alvarez San Diego Story November 4 2018 and San Diego Symphony Tao Plays Tchaikovsky San Diego CityBeat October 29 2018 a b Looseleaf Victoria It s a Great Time to Be Conrad Tao San Francisco Classical Voice May 9 2019 Deneen Nancy In Studio A With Conrad Tao and Stefan Jackiw Interlochen Public Radio January 18 2019 Farber Jim L A Opera s The Loser Is a Winner San Francisco Classical Voice February 25 2019 Ganz Grace Colorado Symphony s new heights DU Clarion May 20 2019 Byrd Craig How Does Pianist Composer Conrad Tao Juggle It All Cultural Attache May 17 2019 Gibbs Christopher H JCT Trio Joins CSO and Rossen Milanov in Trio of Works Celebrating Natural World The Chautauquan Daily July 11 2019 a b Lewis Zachary Jahja Ling conjures true spirit of Blossom with Cleveland Orchestra Conrad Tao The Plain Dealer July 15 2019 Swenson Tricia Scotty McCreery free family fun a half marathon and more Tricia s weekend picks for 7 19 19 Vail Daily July 18 2019 Grella George Conrad Tao the classical pianist making it up as he goes along Financial Times November 4 2022 Tommasini Anthony Review A Fearless Barefoot Pianist Makes a Carnegie Debut The New York Times November 21 2019 Miller Sarah Bryan Pianist Conrad Tao dazzles in early SLSO debut St Louis Post Dispatch February 2 2013 Fleshler David Pianist Tao 18 shows deep and mature artistry in Beethoven South Florida Classical Review April 16 2013 Wise Brian EMI s Juilliard Sessions Debut The Juilliard Journal Vol XXVII No 6 March 2012 The Juilliard School Tao Conrad The Juilliard Sessions Conrad Tao Plays Debussy and Stravinsky iTunes accessed 22 February 2012 Joelson Peter EMI Classics Digital Debut Series Archived 2012 06 17 at the Wayback Machine Audiophile Audition April 9 2012 Tao Conrad Eyelids Archived 2013 05 10 at the Wayback Machine Tau Tau accessed March 21 2012 Tau has released other synthpop music under the name Tau Tau which can be found on another of his websites See Malhotra Anita Interview with Conrad Tao Artsmania com November 12 2012 accessed June 25 2014 Tao Conrad Mozart Piano Concertos No 17 K453 amp No 25 K503 Conrad Tao Piano Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra Thomas O Connor Conductor Santa Fe Pro Musica Recordings August 2012 ASIN B0096JEDVI PTC 5186 505 Gordon Getty Piano Pieces 2013 accessed September 4 2014 Tao s elegant and even introspective playing make the most of these miniatures Rabinowitz Peter J Conrad Tao Getty Homework Suite on Pentatone Fanfare magazine January 31 2014 Conrad Tao Gordon Getty Piano Pieces Allmusic com accessed October 30 2014 Gill Andy Album review Conrad Tao Voyages EMI Classics The Independent May 31 2013 and Voyages Archived 2013 06 29 at archive today EMIClassicsUS accessed April 16 2013 Chart search Conrad Tao BillboardBiz accessed October 25 2015 Manheim James Conrad Tao Voyages Allmusic accessed October 25 2013 Davidson Justin Conrad Tao and Timo Andres The Past is Prologue emusic com August 20 2013 Robertson Alex Conrad Tao Voyages Sputnik Music July 8 2013 Burwasser Peter Conrad Tao Voyages on EMI Fanfare magazine November 21 2013 Grammy Awards 2014 nominations The complete list New York Daily News December 7 2013 Tsioulcas Anastasia First Listen Conrad Tao Voyages NPR music June 2 2013 Tommasini Anthony Classical Playlist Conrad Tao Scrapyard Exotica and More The New York Times October 7 2015 Tao Conrad Pictures iTunes October 9 2015 Barone Joshua Conrad Tao Was Never Just Another Prodigy The New York Times November 19 2022 Wilson Emily From Piano Trios to Protest Music Conrad Tao Does It All San Francisco Classical Voice November 21 2022External links editOfficial website Photos of Tao in 2008 Photo of Tao on the cover of Pasatiempo magazine Santa Fe New Mexico September 2013 Interviews video interview of Tao 2011 The Digital Debut Project Tao discusses The Juilliard Sessions recordings 2012 NYC ARTS on Channel THIRTEEN NY profile of Tao September 2012 with his performance of Liszt s Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 from May 2012 Avery Fisher Career Grant ceremony Chris Johnson interview of Tao July 2013 Performances Tao playing the violin and piano in his own chamber music composition on From the Top at Carnegie Hall 2007 Tao playing Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 3 with the Russian National Orchestra 2010 Tao performing Saint Saens Piano Concerto No 2 with Detroit Symphony Orchestra 2012 Video from Tao s album Voyages 2013 Tao performing Beethoven Piano Concerto No 1 with Detroit Symphony Orchestra 2013 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Conrad Tao amp oldid 1218014372, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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