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Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 8 PM
Glenn Gould Studio
$39.50
Call 416-872-4255 or online at
www.roythomson.com
or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office
He’s charming, articulate, and a different kind of classical
pianist. From his groundbreaking transcriptions of Radiohead to
his powerful interpretations of repertoire classic and contemporary,
pianist Christopher O’Riley has redefined the possibilities of classical
music. He has taken his unique vision to both traditional classical
music venues and symphonic settings, as well as to entirely new
audiences on the radio, at universities and even clubs. As host
of the most popular classical music radio show on the air today,
National Public Radio’s From the Top, Mr. O’Riley works and
performs with the next generation of brilliant young musicians,
demonstrating to audiences, with humour and lack of pretense, that
these young artists are as diverse in their personal lives as they
are in their music-making. In 2007, From the Top was filmed
for public television in Zankel Concert Hall at Carnegie Hall and
debuted on PBS in the spring. The series is now airing its third
season.
Performances in the 2008-2009 season include tours with James Galway
and cellist Carter Brey, recitals at the University of Colorado,
Duke University, and orchestral engagements with the Baltimore Symphony,
New Mexico Symphony, and Atlantic Classical Orchestra. At the Miller
Theatre in New York City, Mr. O’Riley will showcase his own arrangements
alongside classical repertoire in three programs juxtaposing works
of Shostakovich (Preludes and Fugues) with Radiohead, Debussy (Images
and Estampes) with Nick Drake, and Schumann (Arabeske
and Kreisleriana) with Elliott Smith. This season also finds
O’Riley playing recitals in Europe: London, Paris, Munich, Berlin,
Salzburg and Vienna.
His first recording of Radiohead transcriptions, "True Love Waits"
(Sony/Odyssey) received 4 stars from Rolling Stone and was
both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. His second
set of music from the British alt-pop outfit, entitled "Hold Me
to This: Christopher O’Riley plays the music of Radiohead," was
released on World Village/Harmonia Mundi to a similarly enthusiastic
response. In April 2006, his third set of transcriptions was released
on the same label. Entitled "Home to Oblivion; An Elliott Smith
Tribute," Mr. O’Riley tackled the deeply emotional and complex work
from the troubled singer/songwriter who died prematurely in 2003.
His most recent recording, released in April 2007 and entitled "Second
Grace: The Music of Nick Drake", is a disc of transcriptions of
the music by the British folk singer. Nick Drake died in 1974 after
releasing just 3 albums, yet influenced two generations of songwriters
in his wake.
In 2004, Mr. O’Riley toured the US with the world-famous Academy
of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Orchestra visiting 10 cities
in 2 weeks, playing Bach, Mozart and Liszt concerti. He has appeared
with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Minnesota
Orchestra, the symphonies of Pittsburgh, Detroit, Colorado, Atlanta
and Baltimore. The illustrious group of conductors with whom he
has collaborated includes Marin Alsop, David Zinman, Leonard Slatkin,
John Williams, Neeme Järvi, Bobby McFerrin, Hans Graf, Yoel Levi,
Hugh Wolff and Andrew Litton. An enthusiastic advocate of new music,
Mr. O’Riley has twice participated in the annual "Absolute Concerto"
concerts at Avery Fisher Hall, a brainchild of O’Riley’s fan in
the 80’s, Andy Warhol, premiering works by Richard Danielpour and
Michael Torke. In 1999-2000 he performed Michael Daugherty’s "Le
Tombeau de Liberace" with the Detroit Symphony and with the Saint
Paul Chamber Orchestra, both in St. Paul and on tour. He has also
recently given premieres of 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. His radio and TV show can be found
on-line at www.fromthetop.org.
His personal website is at
www.christopheroriley.com.
Sponsored by XM Satellite Radio at Glenn Gould Studio.
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