Pianist Christopher O’Riley

Pianist Christopher O'Riley

From his unforgettably sublime interpretations of the standard Classical canon to his groundbreaking transcriptions of the finest pop repertoire from Radiohead, Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, pianist Christopher O’Riley has redefined the possibilities of classical music. He performs year ‘round, crisscrossing North America offering a variety of programs including standard Classical repertoire as well as his interpretations of contemporary and pop repertoire.

Mr. O’Riley 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 Liszt concerti. He performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and has soloed with the Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. He has collaborated with an illustrious group of conductors including Marin Alsop, Hans Graf, Neeme Järvi, Yoel Levi, Andrew Litton, Leonard Slatkin, John Williams, Hugh Wolff, David Zinman and Bobby McFerrin.

From early in his career, Mr. O’Riley was honored with many awards at the Leeds, Van Cliburn, Busoni and Montreal competitions, as well as an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Among his many solo recording releases are a Scriabin disc for Image Recordings and an all-Stravinsky disc on Elektra Nonesuch.

As host of the most popular classical music radio show on the air today, National Public Radio’s top-rated From The Top, he 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.

Event Date: 10/24/2009
Event Time: 7:00 pm
Website: www.chopinatlanta.org