Jonathan Biss
American pianist Jonathan Biss, widely regarded for his artistry and deeply felt
interpretations, has won international recognition for his orchestral, recital, and chamber
music performances on four continents and for his award-winning recordings. Noted also for
his prodigious technique, intriguing programs, and musical intelligence, he performs a
diverse repertoire that ranges from Mozart and Beethoven, through the Romantics, to Janáček
and Schoenberg, as well as works by contemporary composers, including commissions from Leon
Kirchner, Lewis Spratlan, and Bernard Rands.
Mr. Biss made his New York Philharmonic debut in 2001, and has since appeared with the
foremost orchestras of North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He is a frequent
performer at leading international music festivals and gives recitals in major music
capitals both at home and abroad. This season, his recital appearances take him to 10
countries across Europe and in the US, with highlights that include his debut at the
Edinburgh Festival and his much-anticipated Carnegie Hall debut in Stern Auditorium /
Perelman Stage.
Mr. Biss's orchestral debuts include the Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Symphony, Seoul
Philharmonic, and Montreal Symphony orchestras. He returns for performances with a dozen
other major North American and European orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic; the
Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco symphony orchestras; and the National Arts Centre and
Budapest Festival orchestras. During his second US tour with the Academy of St. Martin in
the Fields, Mr. Biss leads the ensemble in two Mozart piano concertos.
An enthusiastic chamber musician and a frequent participant at the Marlboro Music
Festival, Mr. Biss collaborates with many of today's finest players, including performances
with Midori, Antoine Lederlin, and Nobuko Imai. Later this season, he also performs the
complete cycle of Beethoven's 10 sonatas for violin and piano with Miriam Fried in Seoul,
Korea.
Mr. Biss's newest recording is an album of Schubert sonatas and two short Kurtág pieces
from Játékok. It follows four acclaimed recordings for EMI Classics, including an
all-Schumann recital album, which won a Diapason d'or de l'année; and a recital album of
Beethoven piano sonatas, which received an Edison Award. With the Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra, Mr. Biss recorded Mozart piano concertos No. 21 and No. 22 in a live performance
at Queens College in New York. His first release for EMI Classics was a 2004 recording of
works by Beethoven and Schumann.
At age 20, Mr. Biss made his New York recital debut at the 92nd Street Y's Tisch Center
for the Arts in 2000 and his New York Philharmonic debut under Kurt Masur that same season.
Among the many conductors with whom he has worked are Marin Alsop, Daniel Barenboim,
Herbert Blomstedt, James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Lorin
Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Michael Tilson Thomas, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Pinchas
Zukerman.
Mr. Biss represents the third generation in a family of professional musicians that
includes his grandmother Raya Garbousova, one of the first well-known female cellists (for
whom Samuel Barber composed his Cello Concerto); and his parents, violinist Miriam Fried
and violinist-violist Paul Biss. He studied at Indiana University with Evelyne Brancart and
at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Leon Fleisher.
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