Artist Spotlights Christopher O'Riley | Christopher O'Riley |
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| Written by Howard Wuelfing | |
| Monday, 28 May 2007 | |
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Christopher O'Riley is a unique classical pianist. From his groundbreaking transcriptions of the finest pop repertoire from Radiohead, Elliott Smith and Nick Drake to his unforgettably sublime interpretations of the standard Classical canon, pianist Christopher O'Riley has redefined the possibilities of classical music.
Christopher will be performing throughout 2007, criss-crossing the U.S. offering a variety of programs including standard Classical repertoire as well as his interpretations of contemporary repertoire from Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, English progressive band Radiohead et al. On April 10 harmonia mundi's WorldVillage imprint will be releasing Second Grace - The Music Of Nick Drake- a collection of O'Riley's interpretations of repertoire written and originally recorded by the late enigmatic British guitar wizard and songwriter. Coinciding with the album's release, PBS will launch the weekly television series From The Top taping Live from Carnegie Hall featuring O'Riley as host, a highlights reel is posted at www.youtube.com/user/classicalkids. His unique vision has been taken 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 top-rated From The Top taping, Mr. O'Riley works and performs with the next generation of brilliant young musicians, demonstrating to audiences, with humor and a lack of pretense, that these young artists are as characterful and diverse in their personal lives as they are in their music-making. An interpreter and arranger of some of the most important contemporary popular music of our time, Chris lives by the Duke Ellington adage, "there are only two kinds of music, good music and bad." His first recording of Radiohead transcriptions, True Love Waits (Sony/Odyssey) received 4 stars from Rolling Stone and was as critically acclaimed as it was commercially successful sitting at the top of Billboard's Classical charts for months on end and his Hold Me to This: Christopher O'Riley plays the music of Radiohead released on World Village followed suit. His third set of transcriptions from the contemporary popular songbook Home to Oblivion; An Elliott Smith Tribute, tackled the deeply emotional and complex work from the troubled singer/songwriter who died prematurely in 2003 and similarly drew critical praise from Classical and pop music critics. Christopher O'Riley's poetic gifts and captivating virtuosity have made him one of the most important and versatile pianists performing before the public today. He enjoys a thriving concert career with a singularly broad repertoire ranging from music of the English Renaissance and French Baroque periods to new works of today's leading composers to such non-classical forms as the tango. Mr. O'Riley had already earned critical and popular renown for his technical ability and artistic vision in adapting works from the more conventional Classical canon before applying this talent to the compositions by contemporary writers like Drake, George Harrison, Radiohead and Smith, following the lead of Beethoven, Bartok and others who likewise often interpreted the popular works of their day in performances for their noble patrons. Just as his radio show and his recent recordings have created extraordinary buzz, so have his performances in traditional classical context around the world. He has performed his transcriptions at major jazz festivals in Istanbul, London, San Francisco and Sicily as well as on a tour of the U.K. He's appeared at the Belfast Festival and in January 2006, he debuted in Australia, at the Sydney Festival in a program entitled "Shostakovich meets Radiohead" as well as with Pablo Ziegler in "Los Tangueros" followed by solo concerts in Adelaide and Brisbane. In November 2004, Mr. O'Riley toured the U.S. with the world-famous Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Orchestra visiting 10 cities in 2 weeks, playing Bach, Mozart and Lizst concerti. He's appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Minnesota Orchestra, the symphonies of Pittsburgh, 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 twice participated in the annual "Absolut 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. Check out his profile as available from "All Things Considered". You can catch Christopher O'Riley at any of these upcoming shows:
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