Deemed “ferociously talented” by TimeOut New York, pianist Conrad Tao will perform Mussorgsky’s beloved Pictures at an Exhibition, plus works by Bach, Rachmaninoff, and contemporary composers David Lang and Elliott Carter, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, for a 7:30 p.m. concert presented by Tuesday Musical Association in EJ Thomas Hall at The University of Akron.
The concert is the latest in Tuesday Musical’s Margaret Baxtresser Annual Piano Concert Series, previously presenting such stellar pianists as Emanuel Ax, Yuja Wang and Richard Goode. Age 21, Tao is also Tuesday Musical’s 2015 Clara I. Knight Young Artist, and his educational and community outreach activities prior to the concert are supported by the John A. McAlonan Fund of the Akron Community Foundation.
In 2013 Tao, a Warner Classics recording artist, released Voyages, declared a “spiky debut” by The New Yorker’s Alex Ross. Of the album, NPR observed: “Tao proves himself to be a musician of deep intellectual and emotional means.” His next album, Pictures, which slots works by David Lang, Toru Takemitsu, Elliott Carter, and Tao along side Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, was released just last month.
In June 2011, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the Department of Education named Tao a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts awarded him a YoungArts gold medal in music. Later that year, Tao was named a Gilmore Young Artist, an honor awarded every two years highlighting the most promising American pianists of the new generation. In May of 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.
During the 2015-16 season, Tao performs with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Brazilian Symphony, and Calgary Philharmonic, among others. Tao maintains a close relationship with the Aspen Music Festival, and has appeared at the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Brevard Music Center, Ravinia Festival, and Mostly Mozart Festival.
In 2013 Tao, a Warner Classics recording artist, released Voyages, declared a “spiky debut” by The New Yorker’s Alex Ross. Of the album, NPR observed: “Tao proves himself to be a musician of deep intellectual and emotional means.” His next album, Pictures, which slots works by David Lang, Toru Takemitsu, Elliott Carter, and Tao along side Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, was released just last month.
Section 1 (Orchestra) $45.00
Section 3 (Grand Tier) $45.00
Section 2 (Orchestra) $40.00
Section 4 (Grand Tier) $40.00
Free for all students through a voucher program.
Tickets will also be on sale at the door that evening as long as seats are available.
Phone: 330-761-3460
2015/11/18 - 2015/11/18
1041 West Market Street
Akron, OH 44313