December 26, 2000 Summary Facts:
A pianist renowned for his virtuosity, sensitivity and broad repertoire, Christopher O’Riley will perform a solo concert of diverse works on Thursday, February 1 at 8 p.m. in UCSB Campbell Hall. O’Riley, who has been called “a wonder of informed, intelligent, concentrated stamina” by The New York Times, will perform the Prokofiev Sonata No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 28; his own nine-movement transcription of Stravinsky’s piano reduction of his ballet Apollon musagète (Apollo); a pair of Bach-inspired Shostakovich works, Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp Minor, Op. 87, No. 13 and Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Minor, Op. 87, No. 14; Scriabin’s atmospheric Sonata in No. 8, Op. 66 which the Los Angeles Times says “fans out from its initial chord into a private cosmos into which O’Riley (dives) with proper abandon and faith;” and Mily Balakirev’s Islamey (fantasie orientale). The recipient of top prizes at the Van Cliburn, Leeds, Busoni and Montreal competitions, an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Prize, O’Riley as a young pianist, enjoyed the sponsorship of Young Concert Artists, the Xerox/Affiliate Artists Program and the Pro Musicis Foundation. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. O’Riley’s recordings mirror the originality and range of his concert programming. Among his highly acclaimed solo releases is an all-Stravinsky disc on Elektra Nonesuch featuring Three Movements from Petrouchka, and his own transcriptions of Apollo and Histoire du Soldat. He can be heard with James Galway on an RCA Victor Red Seal release of French repertoire for flute and piano. His discography also includes a Busoni album (including the rarely heard Fantasia Contrappuntistica), a disc of Ravel’s solo works, a recording of Beethoven piano sonatas, a collaboration with cellist Carter Brey titled Le Grand Tango, and the premiere recording of The Short-Tempered Clavier by the fabled composer P.D.Q. Bach. Even as he explores new stylistic territory, Mr. O’Riley remains in demand for his unique interpretations of the standard piano literature. He is a favorite guest with the foremost orchestras in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Kansas City, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, among others. In addition to regular touring, O’Riley has undertaken several new projects. He established the duo Los Tangueros, a partnership with Argentine pianist Pablo Ziegler that has been touring since 1997 with a program of two-piano arrangements of Astor Piazzolla’s classic tangos. In the spring of 1999, he began a collaboration with choreographer Martha Clarke, whose stagings of several stories of Anton Chekhov set to the piano works of Scriabin have featured O’Riley performing live. O’Riley is also the host of the nationally distributed program for Public Radio International From the Top, which showcases the vibrant performances and personalities of young musicians. An enthusiastic advocate of new music, O’Riley has twice participated in the annual Absolut Concerto concerts at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, premiering works of Richard Danielpour and Michael Torke. He performed as the featured artist in Michael Daugherty’s Le Tombeau de Liberace with the Detroit Symphony and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has also premiered works by Aaron Jay Kernis, including his piano quartet, Still Movement with Hymn (also recorded for Decca’s Argo label) and the Superstar Etude No. 1, inspired by the pianism of Jerry Lee Lewis. O’Riley’s other recordings include an Albany release of pieces by John Adams, Robert Helps, Todd Brief and Roger Sessions, and a CD of solo and chamber works by Richard Danielpour for Koch International. As part of his residency at UCSB, O’Riley will conduct a piano master class with UCSB music students on Wednesday, January 31 at 7 p.m. in Geiringer Hall in the UCSB Department of Music building. This event is free and open to public observation. Christopher O’Riley has performed at UCSB twice previously with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival in April 1992 and April 1991. The upcoming February recital is his first solo appearance in Campbell Hall. Presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, this residency is sponsored by the Cheshire Cat Inn, KCBX Public Radio 89.9 FM and the UCSB Department of Music, and is supported, in part, with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and the California Arts Council, a state agency. For tickets or more information, Editor: For photos, please call |