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Awadagin Pratt
Piano
Among
the next generation of concert artists, pianist Awadagin Pratt is acclaimed for
his musical insight and intensely involving performances that receive tremendous
audience response and press attention throughout the United States.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Awadagin Pratt began studying piano at the age
of six. Three years later, having moved to Normal, Illinois, 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.
In 1992, Mr. Pratt won the Naumburg International Piano Competition and two
years later was awarded a 1994 Avery Fisher Career Grant.
He has played numerous recitals throughout the U.S., including
performances in New York at Lincoln Center, Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy
Center, Los Angeles at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Chicago at Orchestra
Hall. His many orchestral
performances include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St.
Luke’s, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pittsburgh, St. Louis, National, Detroit,
Cincinnati and New Jersey symphonies and the New York Chamber Symphony.
Major summer festival engagements include the Ravinia, Blossom, Wolftrap,
Caramoor and Aspen festivals, the Hollywood Bowl and the Mostly Mozart Festival
in Tokyo. Mr. Pratt is also the
Artistic Director of the Next Generation Festival, a two-week chamber music
festival in Lancaster, PA.
Recent appearances include return recital engagements at the Kennedy Center, the
New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and the Bermuda Festival and repeat
appearances with the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Milwaukee,
Seattle, Colorado, Kansas City, Buffalo, Syracuse, New Mexico and Toledo.
Mr. Pratt also appears with cellist Zuill Bailey in duo recitals
throughout the US.
Increasingly active as a conductor, Mr. Pratt has participated in the American
Symphony Orchestra League and Conductor’s Guild workshops.
He was chosen as a participant at the National Conducting Institute in
2001 where 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 as well as the Concertante di Chicago and two
orchestras in Japan.
A great favorite on college and university performing arts series and a strong
advocate of art education, Awadagin Pratt participates in numerous residency and
outreach activities wherever he appears; these activities may include
masterclasses, children’s recitals, play/talk demonstrations and question/answer
sessions for students of all ages.
Internationally, Mr. Pratt made his debut appearances in Japan in the fall of
1996 on a tour which included recitals in Osaka and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and a
performance with the Tokyo Philharmonic. He returned to Japan in 1997, 1999 and 2000 to play recitals
in the major cities and conduct a
concert in Tokyo’s Sumida Triphony Hall.
In Europe, he has been a participant in the 1994, 1996 and 2000
Kammermusikpodium Festival in Braunschweig, Germany, and performed in Italy,
Switzerland, Poland, Israel and South Africa.
Awadagin Pratt has been the subject of numerous articles in the national press,
including Newsweek, People Magazine, USA Weekend, New York Newsday, Emerge and
Mirabella. He was named one of the
50 Leaders of Tomorrow in Ebony Magazine's special 50th anniversary issue and
has been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today and Weekend
Edition. Mr. Pratt has performed on
the Today Show, Good Morning America, and Sesame Street, appeared in a segment
of CBS Sunday Morning and was one of the featured soloists on PBS's "Live
from the Kennedy Center - A Salute to Slava."
He also performed twice at the White House at the invitation of President
and Mrs. Clinton.
In September 1993, Mr. Pratt signed an exclusive recording contract with Angel/EMI.
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 and Transformations. His
most recent Angel/EMI recording is
an all Bach disc with the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
Mr. Pratt resides in Albuquerque and in his spare time is an active tennis
player, devoted chess enthusiast and enjoys fine wines.
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