Music Style Classical

Artist History In 1998, when the American Record Guide described a then unknown Roger Wright as a "savvy, elegant and charismatic pianist…who will turn heads before long" it might as well have predicted the future. Critics from Washington to Sydney would echo that seniment again. Indeed, the St. Petersburg Times praised Wright as a "profoundly insightful and imaginative artist who impresses for his abundantly rich tone and intellectual savoir faire, but even more so for what really matters: making music with a heart:" Following his debut at the Philips Collection, the Washington Post summed it up this way: " Aristocratic, exhilarating .. he has a powerful technique and he enjoys reveling in it.. - a projection of personality that makes interpretation highly individual but illuminates rather than exploits the music. … a major pianist who should have a big career; a pianist who can unlock the secrets of the great romantic composers."Since then, he has amply fulfilled those forecasts. In one of the more unusual events in music, Mr. Wright found himself at the center of controversy at the prestigious Sydney International Competition in August 2000. Audiences the world over were so enthralled by his live broadcast performances that they flooded the Australian Broadcasting Network with calls and letters to protest his elimination from the contest. His emergence as the unofficial popular favorite compelled the ABC to award him, in a move unprecedented in the 50 year history of the competition, a solo recording contract usually reserved exclusively for the Gold Medal Winner.A native Texan, Roger Wright was born in 1974. He gave his first recital at thirteen, making his concerto debut only five years later with the Houston Symphony. Since then he has performed throughout North America, including engagements in Washington, DC., New York and Los Angeles. Overseas, he has performed in Sydney, Dublin and Pretoria. A prizewinner in the Esther Honens Calgary International Piano Competition, he was subsequently engaged by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in the Rachmaninoff Third Concerto. He won the silver medal at the 1997 San Antonio International Piano Competition, as well as a special prize for the Best Performance of the Commissioned Work. In 1998, his victory as the First Prize winner of the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition led to his debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York. On radio, his performances have been broadcast on ABC Australia; across Canada on CBC radio; and on WQXR in New York. Mr. Wright currently resides in Los Angeles where he pursues a Doctorate of Music at the University of Southern California. He was one of only 32 pianists selected out of more than 400 applicants to participate in the Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, Texas in June 2001.

Instruments Piano

Albums ROGER WRIGHT/PIANO MASTERPIECES

Press Reviews "You recognize it immediately when you hear it. A long, arching, beautiful line that sings naturally, the way a fine singer sings. A true pianissimo poised just above audibility, natural gradations of sonority between very soft and very loud, and a thundering fortissimo that resounds without clamor or ugly overtones. A way of voicing chords sothat inner voices have their own dappled color and richness. A projection of personality that makes interpretation highly individual but illuminates rather than exploitsthe music. These are some of the characteristics that mark the true romantic pianist, apianist who can unlock the secrets of the great romantic composers. All of that and more was on display in Roger Wright's recital Sunday at the Phillips Collection. Wright, at 26, has a powerful technique and he enjoys reveling in it. He took the Schumann Toccata - which makes inhuman demands on the wrist - at a burning tempo that was always under control, and along the way he shaped Schumann's contrapuntal lines with remarkable tonal beauty and masterful control of inner voices. The Chopin Sonata in B-flat Minor was a gorgeous display of effortlessly flowing melody, rhapsodic bravura and electrifying passage work. This was aristocratic, exhilarating Chopin that sounded freshly conceived and spontaneous in every bar. Frederic Rzewski's "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" erupted in huge sonic clusters that threatened to tear the recital hall asunder. Wright is virtually unknown, but he is a major pianist who should have a big career." Ronald Broun Washington Post March 2001"Wright has been impressive for his commanding technique and even more for hissensitivity to piano sound and general musical intelligence…[His] performances of Liebermann...and Rzewski were absolutely riveting. But Wright also possesses the most liquid, romantic piano tone imaginable..." Kenneth DeLong Calgary Herald November 2000 Kenneth Delong Calgary Herald November 2000 __________ "A savvy, elegant, and charismatic pianist, Wright commands an astonishing but musically informed technical apparatus...he will turn heads before long." John Bell Young American Record Guide March/April 1999 __________"CD of the year, in my view, is a recently released ABC Classics recording of pianist Roger Wright." Neville Cohn The West Australian January 2001 __________"Roger Wright played…with a technique equal to Marc-Andre Hamelin's, acharismatic presence and a fine musical mind to boot…He stole the show." Clavier Magazine February 1999"...Wright is indeed a phenomenal pianist, but he is also a profoundly insightful andimaginative artist who is fully aware that along with a virtuoso technique goes anawesome responsibility: making music. Indeed, what concerns him are not just the notes, but what goes on in between them." - John Bell YoungThe St. Petersburg TimesFebruary 2001 ______"...As with any competition, there are stars and one that shone resplendently was the 26-year-old American Pianist Roger Wright. His diet wasn't one of the competition standards, but even when he did choose to play pieces frequently aired in competitions - a Chopin B flat minor Sonata of Rubinstein-like nobility, for instance - they were newly lit, magnificently unfolded. His choice of American contemporary music (by Fabregas and Liebermann) was exemplary and his Schumann and Haydn hovered around the elegant and rarefied worlds of Kempff, Haskil and Lupu." Cyrus Meher-Homji, International Record Review

Location Los Angeles, California - USA

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