Conrad Tao

Conrad Tao first distinguished himself during the opening years of the twenty-first century as both an outstanding pianist and a gifted composer, the sole classical artist named to Forbes magazine’s 2011 “30 Under 30” roster of emerging global influencers. In addition to his dual roles as performer and creator, he established New York’s UNPLAY Festival.

Born in Urbana, Illinois, on June 11, 1994, Tao began studying piano in early childhood and made his orchestral debut at eight with Mozart’s Concerto No. 12; he simultaneously pursued violin through Juilliard’s pre-college program. In 2008 he issued a self-released recording of solo works captured at the Verbier Festival. Recognition followed swiftly: by 2012 he had been designated a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, selected as a Gilmore Young Artist, and granted an Avery Fisher Career Grant. That same year he recorded Mozart concertos with Santa Fe Pro Musica and delivered his debut EMI Classics release, a digital-only program uniting pieces by Debussy, Stravinsky, and Tao himself. Between 2004 and 2011 he collected eight ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. While enrolled in a combined degree track at Columbia and Juilliard that encompassed both piano and composition, he continued performing on violin as well, appearing on both instruments for Jackie Evancho’s Dream with Me television broadcast and, on multiple occasions, presenting the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and Piano Concerto within a single program.

In 2013 the Hong Kong Philharmonic commissioned a new score from Tao for its China Day celebration and season-opening concerts led by Jaap van Zweden, while the Dallas Symphony requested a work marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. Also that year he inaugurated the UNPLAY Festival at Brooklyn’s powerHouse Arena, an event showcasing Tao and invited artists in new repertoire alongside performances by diverse ensembles. His recital schedule has taken him across Europe, Asia, and South America, and he has given all five Beethoven piano concertos in the United States.

His second EMI album, Voyages, appeared in 2013 and juxtaposed his own piano music with works by Rachmaninov and Ravel; Pictures followed in 2015 and American Rage in 2019.