“... a pianist whose probing, incisive, and deeply considered performances are consistently challenging and rewarding.”

Upcoming Concerts

Calendar
Princeton University, Healing with Music Series
Apr 24
Princeton University, Healing with Music Series

Works by Schubert and Schumann, and a conversation with writer Adam Haslett

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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Apr 28
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Schubert ◦ Impromptu in B flat Major, D. 935, No. 3

Tyshawn Sorey ◦ For Anthony Braxton
Schubert ◦ Sonata in B flat Major, D. 960


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San Francisco Performances
May 2
San Francisco Performances

Schubert ◦ Impromptu in B flat Major, D. 935, No. 3
Tyshawn Sorey ◦ For Anthony Braxton
Schubert ◦ Sonata in B flat Major, D. 960

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Quebec, Club Musical de Quebec
May 6
Quebec, Club Musical de Quebec

Schubert ◦ Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 “Trout”

Performing with the Brentano Quartet and Joseph Conyers, double bass

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Salt Lake City, Chamber Music Society
May 8
Salt Lake City, Chamber Music Society

Schubert ◦ Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 “Trout”

Performing with the Brentano Quartet and Joseph Conyers, double bass

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Royal Conservatory, Toronto
May 10
Royal Conservatory, Toronto

Schubert ◦ Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 “Trout”

Performing with the Brentano Quartet and Joseph Conyers, double bass

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Chamber Music Detroit
May 11
Chamber Music Detroit

Schubert ◦ Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 “Trout”

Performing with the Brentano Quartet and Joseph Conyers, double bass

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Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
May 12
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

Schubert ◦ Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 “Trout”

Performing with the Brentano Quartet and Joseph Conyers, double bass

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Orchestre de chambre de Paris
May 30
Orchestre de chambre de Paris

Beethoven ◦ Concerto #2 in B flat Major, Op. 19
Timo Andres ◦ The Blind Banister

Pekka Kuusisto, conductor

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Beethoven/5

Album cover for Beethoven/5 Vol. 1

Release Date: April 26, 2024

Beethoven/5 Vol. 1:
Beethoven ‘Emperor’ Concerto
Brett Dean ‘A Winter’s Journey’

For Brett Dean, that word ‘about’ is a critical consideration. He is hardly a purveyor of ‘program music’ but it helps to know the context of his creativity. His music (think: Charles Ives) is more reflection or commentary, a diary entry or discussion. It is often weighty, but always rewarding…. Opening with the ‘Emperor’ gave us the opportunity to experience Biss’s sheer musicality, intelligence and profound study of Beethoven. In his hands, Beethoven was not a vehicle for display or showmanship, but quiet, dignified introspection.”

Limelight

“Beethoven’s personal life may have been short on joy, but listening to Jonathan Biss leaves one feeling grateful that he was able to discover it in composing.”

Latest Instagram Posts

Some thoughts on Schubert’s music for piano 4-hands, which has been a revelation to me, and which I’m about to play with @uchidamitsuko in Princeton, Philadelphia, Schenectady, and @carnegiehall. Schubert might be the only composer whose reputation as one of the greats could easily rest on music that is virtually unknown… @princetonuniversityconcerts - April 3 @pcmsconcerts - April 5 @capitalregionclassical - April 7 @carnegiehall - April 9
Many thanks to @newyorkermag for this preview of a concert I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time.. “Two hands good, four hands better” is both an amazing line and — I sincerely hope — the only Orwellian thing
Many thanks to @newyorkermag for this preview of a concert I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time.. “Two hands good, four hands better” is both an amazing line and — I sincerely hope — the only Orwellian thing about this program, which is made up entirely of music that is as neglected as it is sublime. (Wait, is THAT Orwellian?)
Alvin Singleton's "Bed-Stuy Sonata" toggles back and forth between extremes of tempo, of character, even of language. What's so exciting about learning a new piece is that every day I understand it a little bit better --- every day I'm a little bit clearer about how those character shifts work, about why they happen. I'll be playing it again on the 14th at @sfperformances, and the 24th at the @gardnermuseum in Boston. I know the piece will strike me differently on each occasion, and I can't wait.
"Journey" is one of those words that's been injured through overuse...but the Schubert A Major Sonata D. 959 is a JOURNEY. You feel the epic scale of the work instantly, but you cannot imagine the places it will go. Playing it is a profound experience and I am thrilled to embark on this musical trek at @sfperformances this Thursday night!
"The opening theme rises and rises, reaching upward with terrible insistence, punctuated by silences which only increase the tension." From my program note about Schubert's miraculous and frightening Sonata in c minor, D. 958, which I'll playing once more tomorrow at Boston's @gardnermuseum. More information at the link in my bio!
Tyson Golson Davis, '... Expansions of Light' (2023) @tysongholsdavis has a voice that is unmistakably his own; everything in the music matters. Here, in the work's central 'Caprice', one voice ("glass-smooth, leggiero, effortless...like a flock of birds") remains totally indifferent to the main one ("Bebop-like, playful, angular, with spunk"). The result is characteristically distinctive, nuanced, and delightful.
Beethoven's first piano concerto is pure joy to play — witty, playful, and hugely ambitious in its outer movements, it has a spirituality which anticipates the later music in the deeply moving central one. And then on top of it, there is the wild, woolly, hilariously long, altogether uproarious first movement cadenza. I'm so looking forward to playing it this weekend with @ryanbancroftconductor and the @_bbcnow.
Today marks the 227th anniversary of Schubert’s birth. His musical world is one of paradoxes — profoundly lonely yet filled with love, a place of horror yet equally one of tenderness, all expressed with unflinching honesty and shocking beauty. His music is the ultimate example of the power and universality of great art, because in spite of coming from a different place, a different time, and just about every different circumstance imaginable, he has so much to teach me about who I am and what life is about.
"...the pianist, who’s known for his deeply insightful approach to the pillars of the repertoire and a desire to forge connections between that canon and the present, begins a three-concert series at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on
"...the pianist, who’s known for his deeply insightful approach to the pillars of the repertoire and a desire to forge connections between that canon and the present, begins a three-concert series at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Feb. 25. Each appearance is focused on one of the last three Schubert piano sonatas. It’s the kind of project, featuring deep engagements with works by a single composer, that has animated Biss’s career." - @bostonglobe Read the full piece at the link in bio.
Join Jonathan, @itzhakperlmanofficial, and the Isaiah J. Thompson Trio at @carnegiehall to celebrate the life of Rafael Viñoly with @philorch on Tuesday, November 28! Jonathan will be performing on the unique Maene-Viñoly curved grand p
Join Jonathan, @itzhakperlmanofficial, and the Isaiah J. Thompson Trio at @carnegiehall to celebrate the life of Rafael Viñoly with @philorch on Tuesday, November 28! Jonathan will be performing on the unique Maene-Viñoly curved grand piano — more info at the link in bio!
Some thoughts on Schubert’s music for piano 4-hands, which has been a revelation to me, and which I’m about to play with @uchidamitsuko in Princeton, Philadelphia, Schenectady, and @carnegiehall. Schubert might be the only composer whose
Many thanks to @newyorkermag for this preview of a concert I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time.. “Two hands good, four hands better” is both an amazing line and — I sincerely hope — the only Orwellian thing
Alvin Singleton's "Bed-Stuy Sonata" toggles back and forth between extremes of tempo, of character, even of language. What's so exciting about learning a new piece is that every day I understand it a little bit better --- every day I'm a li
"Journey" is one of those words that's been injured through overuse...but the Schubert A Major Sonata D. 959 is a JOURNEY. You feel the epic scale of the work instantly, but you cannot imagine the places it will go. Playing it is a profound
"The opening theme rises and rises, reaching upward with terrible insistence, punctuated by silences which only increase the tension." From my program note about Schubert's miraculous and frightening Sonata in c minor, D. 958, which I'll p
Tyson Golson Davis, '... Expansions of Light' (2023) @tysongholsdavis has a voice that is unmistakably his own; everything in the music matters. Here, in the work's central 'Caprice', one voice ("glass-smooth, leggiero, effortless...like a floc
Beethoven's first piano concerto is pure joy to play — witty, playful, and hugely ambitious in its outer movements, it has a spirituality which anticipates the later music in the deeply moving central one. And then on top of it, there is the wi
Today marks the 227th anniversary of Schubert’s birth. His musical world is one of paradoxes — profoundly lonely yet filled with love, a place of horror yet equally one of tenderness, all expressed with unflinching honesty and shocking be
"...the pianist, who’s known for his deeply insightful approach to the pillars of the repertoire and a desire to forge connections between that canon and the present, begins a three-concert series at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Join Jonathan, @itzhakperlmanofficial, and the Isaiah J. Thompson Trio at @carnegiehall to celebrate the life of Rafael Viñoly with @philorch on Tuesday, November 28! Jonathan will be performing on the unique Maene-Viñoly curved grand p

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