Pictures

The new album combines Mussorgsky’s masterwork for piano Pictures at an Exhibition with contemporary vignettes from Elliott Carter, David Lang, Toru Takemitsu and a work by Conrad Tao himself in a world premiere recording.

At just 21 years of age Conrad Tao is already a seasoned performer, multi-award winner and festival curator, with a unique approach to programming. Dubbed a musician of “probing intellect and open-hearted vision” by the New York Times, a “thoughtful and mature composer” by NPR, and “ferociously talented” by Time Out New York, his many awards include being a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Young Arts gold medal-winner, a Gilmore Young Artist and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has not only established his reputation as a concert pianist of great critical acclaim, but he is also a hugely talented composer, with commissions from groups including the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, for whom he wrote a work to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F Kennedy.