 |
|
|
In his generation of concert artists, pianist Awadagin Pratt is acclaimed for his musical insight and intensely involving performances in recital and with symphony orchestras.
Born in Pittsburgh, Awadagin Pratt began studying piano at the age of six. Three years later, having moved to Normal, Illinois with his family, he also began studying violin. At the age of 16, he entered the University of Illinois where he studied piano, violin, and conducting. He subsequently enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he became the first student in the school's history to receive diplomas in three performance areas: piano, violin and conducting. In recognition of this achievement and for his work in the field of classical music, Mr. Pratt recently received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Johns Hopkins.
In 1992, Awadagin won the Naumburg International Piano Competition and, two years later, was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has played numerous recitals throughout the US including performances at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and Chicago’s Orchestra Hall. His many orchestral performances include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra and the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, National, Detroit and New Jersey symphonies among many others.
His summer festival engagements include Ravinia, Blossom, Wolftrap, Caramoor and Aspen, the Hollywood Bowl and the Mostly Mozart Festival in Tokyo. Awadagin is also the Artistic Director of the Next Generation Festival, a two-week chamber music festival in Lancaster, PA and appears with cellist Zuill Bailey in duo recitals throughout the US.
Recent and upcoming appearances include recital engagements at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and in Baltimore, La Jolla, Savannah and at Duke University, as well as appearances with the orchestras of Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Seattle, Colorado, Kansas City, Utah, Nashville, Memphis, Grand Rapids, Virginia, Winston-Salem (under Robert Moody!), New Mexico and San Antonio.
As a conductor, Awadagin has participated in the American Symphony Orchestra League and Conductor's Guild workshops. At the National Conducting Institute, he worked closely with Leonard Slatkin and conducted the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. He has also conducted the Toledo, New Mexico, Winston-Salem, Santa Fe and Prince George County symphonies, the Concertante di Chicago, and two orchestras in Japan.
A great favorite on college and university performing arts series and a strong advocate of music education, Awadagin participates in numerous residency and outreach activities wherever he appears. These activities include master classes, children's recitals, play/talk demonstrations and question/answer sessions for students of all ages.
An Angel/EMI recording artist, his debut album, A Long Way From Normal, was released in 1994. Subsequent recital discs include an all Beethoven Sonata CD, Live From South Africa, Transformations and an all Bach disc with the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
He is currently an Associate Professor of Piano and Artist in Residence at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. |
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday
February 4, 2010
7:30 pm
Pinnacle Presbyterian Church
25150 N. Pima Road
Scottsdale
$35 General Admission
$5 Students (K-College)
General Admission
$50 Premium Sections
|
|
|
|
|
|
