Just 28 years old, American pianist *Andrew Russo* has consistently made a vivid impression wherever he has played. A versatile artist, both on and off the stage, Mr. Russo has been a rising star in his native United States since his professional debut at the age of 13. His recent appearances in Paris (Salle Cortot), Tokyo (Kioi Hall), Leipzig (Gewandhaus), Brussels (Theatre Marni) and Luxembourg (Grande Salle du Conservatoire National) have received praise for their striking combination of “unbridled temperament with perfect control” (Mitteldeutsche Zeitung). Russo has particularly made a name for himself through an individual sense of programming that shares a 21st century sensibility with the audience.
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 to develop relationships and collaborations with many important American and European composers, began working with electro-acoustic music and explored an ongoing interest for mixing the worlds 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. This project subsequently led to a similar version of Erik Satie’s Sports et Divertissements and an intense period of involvement with the music of George Crumb.
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. The attraction that this performance spurred led to the development 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 that closely mirrored 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 rousing 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) In recent months, Mr. Russo has given the French premiere of Crumb’s new solo work Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik and organized Crumb Festivals within the frameworks of Finland’s 2004 Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and Sweden’s 2004 Gerlesborgs Musikdagen.
2004-05 will again be a fruitful year of premieres, festivals and record releases. Recently out on the Albany label is Mr. Russo’s recording of Wright Flight, a piano concerto commissioned for Russo from composer Michael Schelle by the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. This work was premiered as part of the DPO’s Wright Brothers Centennial project and was premiered with Russo at the keyboard and Neal Gittleman on the podium in February of 2003. Next releases include Russo’s follow-up recordings on Black Box – a disc of John Adams solo and chamber works with violinist/pianist James Ehnes plus a disc of Reich and Marc Mellits two-piano works with composer/pianist Mellits – and a release on Sub Rosa Records, which includes the premiere of Francois-Bernard Mache’s concerto for 2 claviers with string orchestra (Ensemble Musique Nouvelles with Jean-Paul Dessy).
Solo and concerto appearances will take place in Luxembourg, Germany’s Mainfranken Theater (New Year’s concerts), St. Petersburg, Brussels (Theatre Marni), Cliburn Concerts Modern at the Modern Series (Ft. Worth), Steinway Society of the Bay Area (San Jose) and the Muzik 3 Festival in San Diego. In addition, Mr. Russo will make a trio of appearances in New York City performing premieres of works by a broad range of composers. September’s SAY WHAT festival at The Cutting Room , organized by Russo, will feature the US premiere of works for piano and tape by Holland’s Jacob ter Veldhuis and Lithuania’s Vykintas Baltakas, plus world premieres of new works for speaking pianist written for Russo by American composers Derek Bermel and Marc Mellits, December performances at The Monkey will present the New York premiere of Philippe Manoury’s monumental Pluton for piano and live electronics with Miller Puckette on computer; also in December at Merkin Hall, the world premiere of a trio by Annie Gosfield written for Russo, cellist Felix Fan and percussionist David Cossin.
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. The program is committed to bringing music to people of all backgrounds by organizing special musical presentations and clinics for elementary schools in the underprivileged areas of his hometown – Syracuse, NY- in conjunction with an eclectic concert series at Le Moyne College’s Coyne Performing Arts Center. Presently residing in Indianapolis with his wife Natalia, Russo is serving as Visiting Professor at Butler University for the 2004-05 academic year. 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’.
