|
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, and he is receiving critical praise for his recitals and concerts with symphony orchestras. At age 13, he was featured on the PBS TV series ''From the Top – Live from Carnegie Hall'' as violinist, pianist and composer. Critics have found promise in his early compositions, and he won eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. Dallas Symphony Orchestra commissioned and premiered, in 2013, an orchestral work by Tao, to observe the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. 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''. That year, he was an Avery Fisher Career Grant awardee. He produced and hosted a three-night music festival, the UNPLAY Festival, in New York City from June 11–13, 2013. In 2013, he also released two albums, ''Gordon Getty: Piano Pieces'' and ''Voyages''. Tao travels around the U.S. and abroad performing concerts and, at the same time, he attends the Columbia University–Juilliard School joint degree program. He is the 2015/16 Dallas Symphony Orchestra Artist-in-residence. ==Early life and career== 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.〔Jepson, Barbara. ("The Tao of Early Musical Success", ) ''The Wall Street Journal'', April 1, 2008, accessed November 4. 2011〕 Hearing his older sister Connie's piano lessons, Tao began to plink out children's songs on the piano, by ear, at the age of 18 months.〔Pasternak, Jill. ("Crossing Boundaries from Past to Future: Pianist Conrad Tao on Crossover" ), WRTI.org, June 1, 2013〕 He gave his first piano recital at age 4.〔(Scholars ), Presidential Scholars Foundation, accessed November 28, 2011〕 At age 8, he made his concerto debut with the Utah Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, performing Mozart's ''Piano Concerto in A major''.〔〔(Conrad Tao" ), Juiliard School of Music, 2008, accessed April 20, 2012〕 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〔Shellenbarger, Sue. ("Raising an Accidental Prodigy", ) ''Wall Street Journal'', March 30, 2011, accessed November 2, 2011〕 and at the Professional Children's School.〔("Twelve-year-old Piano Prodigy appearing at Skaneateles Festival" ), Eagle Newspapers, August 10, 2007, accessed June 3, 2013〕 He won the 2003 Walgreens National Concerto Competition as a violinist.〔 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.〔(Show 107, ) ''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, ) ''From the Top'', 2011, accessed November 4, 2011〕〔("Conrad Tao talks about his experience on ''From the Top''" ), Pacific Symphony, YouTube, January 10, 2014〕 Tao won eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards from 2004 to 2011.〔〔Schweitzer, Vivien. ("A Promising Star, Rising Above the Horizon" ), ''The New York Times'', February 29, 2012〕 At age 10, his piano composition ''Silhouettes and Shadows'' won the BMI Carlos Surinach Prize.〔〔 His first piano concerto, ''The Four Elements'', was premiered in 2007 by the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio.〔 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".〔("Davidson Fellows - 2008" ), Davidson Institute for Talent Development, accessed January 22, 2012〕 In reviewing a 2008 piano recital in Berkeley, where Tao gave the U.S. 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."〔Kosman, Joshua. ("Rumors are true about Conrad Tao" ), SFGate.com, November 4, 2008, accessed November 4, 2011〕 Other early compositions include many pieces for solo piano and chamber music such as Tao's 2009 Piano Trio.〔Shulman, Laurie. ("Program Notes: JFK Memorial Concert (Nov. 21–24)" ), Dallas Symphony Orchestra, November 11, 2013〕 He won both the Juilliard Pre-College Gina Bachauer Piano Competition and the Prokofiev Concerto Competition in 2006.〔 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. () command of one of the classical repertoire’s most difficult works was simply amazing."〔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〕 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.〔〔("Conrad Tao biography" ), PENTATONE, accessed September 4, 2014〕 In 2008, Tao performed both Mendelssohn's ''Violin Concerto in E minor'' and ''Piano Concerto No. 1'' in one concert with the Miami Piano Festival Orchestra.〔〔("The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia Featuring Conrad Tao: October 18, 5 PM on WRTI" ), WRTI, October 13, 2015〕 He repeated that feat nine times the next year with the Symphony of the Americas in Boca Raton.〔(Conrad Tao ), IMGArtists.com, accessed January 13, 2013〕 The same year, critic Harris Goldsmith, in ''Musical America'', called Tao "the most exciting prodigy ever to come my way. His promise is limitless."〔Goldsmith, Harris. ("2008: Young Artists: More Thrills of Discovery". ''Musical America'', 2008, accessed February 16, 2012 )〕 ''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."〔 In 2009, Tao's venues included the Ravinia Festival〔Walker, Cassie. ("First Class", ) ''Chicago Magazine'', July 2009, accessed November 28, 2011〕 and Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre.〔(video interview of Tao ), YoungArts' YouTube channel, May 31, 2012, accessed November 25, 2014〕 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."〔Dunn, Jeff. ("Spaced-Out Mussorgsky" ), ''San Francisco Classical Voice'', May 5, 2009, accessed November 4, 2011〕 Tao has long studied piano with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Choong Mo Kang at Juilliard and composition with Christopher Theofanidis of Yale University,〔〔(Conrad Tao ), The Juilliard School, 2007, accessed January 21, 2013〕 and for five years he studied violin with Catherine Cho at Juilliard's Pre-College Division.〔〔 He also studied for six summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2004 to 2009, mostly playing violin, and although "he has moved his focus away from violin, Tao considers his () as a member of the () violin section critical to his success as a piano soloist. ... 'I've gained an understanding of the dynamic between orchestra and soloist'."〔Oksenhorn, Stewart. ("Music festival: Tao thanks Aspen for lack of direction" ), ''The Aspen Times'', June 28, 2012〕〔("Where Dreams Begin: Interview with Conrad Tao" ), Aspen Music Festival and School, YouTube.com, November 7, 2013〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Conrad Tao」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|