ANDREW RUSSO

American pianist Andrew Russo was nominated for a 2007 Grammy for his recording of works by John Corigliano on Black Box Records. For more information: www.russocentral.com

"Russo is an undisputed master of Crumb's exotic sound world."
(The Independent)

"Mr. Russo, who has issued rewarding discs of music by George Crumb, John Corigliano and John Adams, alternates between elegant restraint and manic intensity in “Agu,” a solo piano suite." (New York Times)

"…Andrew Russo, a powerful pianist who knows no limits" (London Times)

American pianist Andrew Russo is a musical interpreter of uncommon vitality. A versatile artist, both on and off the stage, Russo has made a name for himself through his work with many of today’s leading composers in the United States and Europe. His career has unfolded around the globe, with appearances in Paris, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Leipzig, Brussels, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Luxembourg.

2007-2008 takes Andrew Russo on another eclectic journey with performances in Los Angeles, New York, Syracuse, Rome, Ottawa, and Philadelphia, among other cities. In September, he released a recording featuring Paul Schoenfield's Four Parables for Piano and Orchestra with the Prague Philharmonia under acclaimed American conductor JoAnn Falletta, Four Souvenirs with violinist James Ehnes and Café Music for piano trio on the Black Box label. A champion of contemporary American composers, Andrew’s ongoing series with Black Box includes a GRAMMY Award nominated disc of music by John Corigliano, as well as recordings of works by Steve Reich, John Adams, Aaron Jay Kernis, Marc Mellits, and George Crumb.

In 2006-07 Andrew toured as guest soloist with Daniel Hege and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra performing Paul Schoenfield's Four Parables for Piano and Orchestra, and was the featured pianist on a US tour with Don Byron and the Bang-On-A-Can All Stars. His 3-piece band, Real Quiet, fresh off the release of their debut album 'Tight Sweater', performed in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Taipei, premiered David Lang's Triple Concerto with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, and a new work by Marc Neikrug at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Summerfest in La Jolla.

Previous seasons featured appearances as guest soloist with Ensemble Musique Nouvelles in Brussels, with the West Virginia and Syracuse Symphony Orchestras, performances of Michael Schelle’s Wright Flight (written for Russo) with the Evansville Philharmonic, and the premiere of a new multi-media work by David Lang at the Santa Fe and Muzik 3 (San Diego) Chamber Music Festivals. Other festival appearances included Finland’s Lemi-Lappeenranta and Lake Tuusula Festivals and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival in Long Island.

In the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Russo created a special and historical moment
by performing George Crumb's A Little Suite For Christmas, A.D. 1979, making him the first person to ever perform on the inside of the piano in this major quadrennial event. This remarkable performance led to the creation of the 2002 George Crumb Celebration Festival at New York's Angel Orensanz Performing Arts Center on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Serving as artistic director and pianist for this event, Mr. Russo worked closely with the composer to develop a retrospective structure closely mirroring the trajectory of Mr. Crumb's inimitable career. With the composer on hand and performances by many of today's leading young contemporary music artists - soprano Susan Narucki, composer/clarinetist Derek Bermel, flautist Tara Helen O'Conor, cellist Felix Fan and percussionist David Cossin among them - the festival was a spectacular success. In a rave review of the entire weekend, Shirley Fleming wrote of "Mr. Russo's totally absorbing solo performances of Volumes I and II of Makrokosmos" (Musical America)

Two months after the Crumb Festival, the English label Black Box Records released Russo's performance of Crumb's solo piano music - "Russo is an unquestionable master of Crumb's unique sound world." (Independent) "This is one of the best recordings that I have heard of this material" (American Record Guide). Mr. Russo subsequently organized Crumb Festivals within the frameworks of Finland's 2004 Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and Sweden's 2004 Gerlesborgs Musikdagen.

A prolific recording artist, Andrew Russo released three CDs in 2006: Tight Sweater, featuring the works of Marc Mellits and performed with Real Quiet (Endeavor Classics), Steve Reich’s Different Trains, Piano Phase and Marc Mellits’s String Quartet No.2 (Black Box) and the next volume in his series of American composer portraits for Black Box — John Corigliano's Etude Fantasy - Fantasia on an Ostinato, Violin Sonata, Chiaroscuro for two pianos which received a 2007 GRAMMY nomination. The Albany label released Mr. Russo's recording of Wright Flight, a piano concerto commissioned for Russo from composer Michael Schelle by the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra for Dayton’s Wright Brothers Centennial Celebration. French label Sub Rosa Records has released Mr. Russo’s recording of Canopèe, a concerto for 2 claviers with string orchestra commissioned from Francois-Bernard Mache by Art Zoyd and Ensemble Musique Nouvelles.

As a recitalist, Mr. Russo’s programs frequently feature premieres. In the last 2 years alone, Russo has given the US premieres of works by Holland's Jacob ter Veldhuis and Gerard Beljon, the French premiere of George Crumb’s Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik, and world premieres of works written for Russo by American composers Derek Bermel and Marc Mellits and British composer James Aitchison. In December 2004, Mr. Russo presented the New York premiere of Philippe Manoury's monumental Pluton for piano and live electronics with the composer’s collaboration.

Most recently, Russo has formed a three-piece band called Real Quiet with cellist Felix Fan and percussionist David Cossin dedicated to commissioning repertoire, which will then be recorded and performed. Real Quiet’s first appearances in New York and San Diego premiering works by Annie Gosfield, Phil Kline and Marc Mellits were highly successful – “This trio is cut out to be a major presence on the new music scene.” (Musical America) The group’s debut album ‘Tight Sweater’ of works by Mellits was released in August 2006 on the Endeavour Classics label.

In addition to his activities as a performer and event organizer, Mr. Russo dedicates time to the direction and development of Music Journeys INC, a non-profit foundation which he founded in 2001. Now administrated through Le Moyne College, where Russo is artist-in-residence, the program brings American music to people of all backgrounds through special musical presentations and clinics for elementary schools in the underprivileged areas Syracuse, NY, as well as an eclectic and interactive concert series at Le Moyne College's Coyne Performing Arts Center. It is because of the breadth and diversity of his activities that Gramophone magazine recently proclaimed: "Andrew Russo is by no means 'just another pianist’”.

Trained classically at The Juilliard School and the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Mendelssohn in Leipzig, Mr. Russo pursued further specialized training in Paris with Frederic Chiu. It was during those years that Russo began developing relationships with many important American and European composers, began working with electro-acoustic music and explored an ongoing interest for the hybrid world of live musical performance and theater. It was on Charleston, South Carolina's International Piano Series in 1998 that Mr. Russo first performed his own version of Prokofieff's Romeo and Juliet Suite, interspersing dramatic readings from Shakespeare with the Russian master's famous ballet score. A similar version of Erik Satie's Sports et Divertissements was subsequently presented in the United States, France and Finland, and an intense period of involvement with the music of George Crumb began.

Andrew Russo currently lives near Syracuse, N.Y. with his photographer-wife Natalia and son Andrei, where he is the artist-in-residence at Le Moyne College. Andrew Russo is honored to be a Yamaha artist

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