Awadagin Pratt
{{Promo|date=November 2023}}{{Short description|American pianist (born 1966)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Awadagin Pratt
| birth_name = Awadagin Pratt
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|3|6}}
| origin = Normal, Illinois, U.S.
| occupation = Pianist
| years_active = 1998–present
}}
Awadagin Pratt ({{IPAc-en|ɑː|w|ɑː|ˈ|d|ɑː|dʒ|ɪ|n}}; born March 6, 1966) is an American concert pianist born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Life
File:Michelle and Barack Obama listening pianist Awadagin Pratt.jpg of the White House, November 2009]]
Awadagin Pratt began piano lessons at six with Leslie Sompong and after moving to Normal, Illinois, violin lessons at age nine. With a violin scholarship he enrolled in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the age of 16, then transferred to the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore where he was the school's first student to receive diplomas in three different performance areas: piano, violin, and conducting.Saint Paul Sunday July 26, 2013 {{cite web |title=Artist Profile: Zuill Bailey and Awadagin Pratt |url=http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/artists/artist/index.php?ac=bailey_pratt |access-date=2017-05-25 |archive-date=2013-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726234059/http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/artists/artist/index.php?ac=bailey_pratt |url-status=dead }}
In 1992 Pratt became the first African-American pianist to win the Naumburg International Piano Competition.{{Citation needed|date=May 2016}}{{Cite web |last=Oron |first=Aryeh |title=Awadagin Pratt (Piano, Arranger) |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Pratt-Awadagin.htm}} Since then, "he has performed with nearly every major orchestra in this country [the United States], at the Clinton White House, Obama White House and on Sesame Street".{{cite news|date=9 April 2000 |author=Cruice, Valerie |title=Music; A pianist with plans for time traveling |publisher=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/09/nyregion/music-a-pianist-with-plans-for-time-traveling.html}} Winning the Naumburg prize launched Pratt into a strenuous performance schedule, with 40 to 50 concerts that year and 70 the following year, when he signed with the New York City artist management firm IMG Artists.[http://www.awadagin.com Awadagin Pratt Home Page.] In 1994 Pratt made his debut at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic.{{cite web|date=1998 |author=Shepard, T. Brooks |title=Classical romance from Awadagin Pratt - African American pianist excels at classical European music |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1546/is_n1_v13/ai_20330375}}
In fall 2004 Pratt accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Piano and Artist in Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, rising to the rank of Professor of Piano.{{cite web |date=2005 |title=Classical superstar joins CCM faculty at the University of Cincinnati |publisher=University of Cincinnati Magazine |url=http://www.magazine.uc.edu/0105/panorama4.htm}} His recital debut there came on December 1, 2005.{{cite news |author=Gelfand, Janelle |date=December 2005 |title=A minute with... Awadagin Pratt |publisher=The Enquirer |url=http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051201/LIFE/512010311/1091/ENT01}}
Pratt joined the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in July 2023. He continues to perform up to 30 times a year across the United States and abroad.{{Citation needed|date=May 2016}} A recital on March 3, 2020, drew praises for its "old-master richness."{{cite news |last1=Moran |first1=David |title=Awadagin Pratt: Old-Master Richness |url=https://www.classical-scene.com/2020/03/05/adawagin-pratt-richness/ |accessdate=26 March 2020 |publisher=Boston Musical Intelligencer |date=5 March 2020}} Pratt is also an experienced conductor, having led orchestras in the US and Japan.{{cite web |title=Biography |url=http://awadagin.com/bio/ |website=Awadagin Pratt |accessdate=26 March 2020}}
Performance preferences
{{listen
|filename=20091104 Awadagin Pratt - Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582.theora.ogv
|title=Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
|description=Pratt performs Johann Sebastian Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 on a piano at the White House Evening of Classical Music on November 4, 2009. In addition from 11:22 to 11:27, he salutes United States President Barack Obama with a few bars of "Hail to the Chief".
|filetype=Ogv
|filename2=20091104 Awadagin Pratt - Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582.ogg
|title2=Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
|description2=Audio only
|filename3=20091104 Joshua Bell, Awadagin Pratt, and Alisa Weilerstein - Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 - 4. Finale, Allegro assai appassionato.theora.ogv
|title3=Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 – 4. Finale: Allegro assai appassionato
|description3=Joshua Bell, Pratt, and Alisa Weilerstein perform Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 – 4. Finale: Allegro assai appassionato, at the White House Evening of Classical Music on November 4, 2009.
|filetype3=Ogv
|filename4=20091104 Joshua Bell, Awadagin Pratt, and Alisa Weilerstein - Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 - 4. Finale, Allegro assai appassionato edit1.ogg
|title4=Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 – 4. Finale: Allegro assai appassionato
|description4=Audio only version
|filename5=20091104 Awadagin Pratt and student pianist Lucy Hattemer - Franz Schubert Fantasia in F minor, 1st and 4th movements.ogg
|title5="Fantasia in F minor", 1st and 4th movements
|description5=Pratt and student pianist Lucy Hattemer perform Franz Schubert's piano four-hands Fantasia in F minor, 1st and 4th movements at the White House Classical Music Student Workshop Concert. (2009-11-04)
|filetype5=Ogg
|filename6=20091104 Awadagin Pratt - Scriabin, Étude Op. 8 No. 12 edit1.ogg
|title6=Scriabin: "Étude Op. 8 No. 12"
|description6=Pratt performs Alexander Scriabin's Étude Op. 8 No. 12 at the White House Classical Music Student Workshop Concert. (2009-11-04)
|filetype6=Ogg
}}
Writers often note Pratt's appearance. "Pratt takes the stage at Boston's Jordan Hall in a subtle but colorful green-and-lavender striped and checked shirt. His black pants reveal a dash of whimsicality below the cuffs: socks adorned with a portrait of Van Gogh". Among other composers whose works he has espoused are Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Edvard Grieg, Modest Mussorgsky, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Recordings
Pratt has released several recordings on compact disc:
- A Long Way From Normal (EMI, 1994), Pratt's debut album, including music of Liszt, Franck, Brahms, and Bach. The title is a reference to his boyhood home of Normal, Illinois.
- Beethoven Piano Sonatas (EMI, 1995), including sonatas 7, 9, 30, and 31.
- Live From South Africa (EMI, 1997), which was recorded in Cape Town, including works of Bach, Brahms, Franck, and Rachmaninoff.
- Transformations (EMI 72435 56836, November 16, 1999), including Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition; Pratt's own transcription of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582; and Brahms's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, all played on a Bösendorfer Imperial Grand.
- Play Bach (Angel 2002), including Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050; Keyboard Concerti nos. 4 in A Major, BWV 1055, and 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056; and shorter works, all with a chamber ensemble performing one to a part.
- Stillpoint (New Amsterdam, August 2023) newly commissioned works for piano, strings (A Far Cry), and vocals (Roomful of Teeth){{cite web|url=https://www.newamrecords.com/albums/awadagin-pratt-stillpoint|date=August 25, 2023|publisher=New Amsterdam Records|title=Stillpoint|access-date= August 25, 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
- (2003) Serinus, Jason V.; Interview with Pianist Awadagin Pratt; (hometheaterhifi.com).[http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/feature-article-interview-awadagin-pratt-05-2003.html]
- Biography at Bach-cantatas.com [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Pratt-Awadagin.htm]
- (2001-11-14); CFA Welcomes Acclaimed Pianist Awadagin Pratt; The Mason Gazette (gazette.gmu.edu). [https://web.archive.org/web/20071229120916/http://gazette.gmu.edu/articles/3163/]
- (1995-02-16); Barron, James; ON TOUR WITH: Awadagin Pratt; Knowing What It Means to Solo; The New York Times (nytimes.com). [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/16/garden/on-tour-with-awadagin-pratt-knowing-what-it-means-to-solo.html]
- (2007-09-24); Gladstone, Valerie; Pratt's Triple Threat; The New York Sun (nysun.com). [http://www.nysun.com/article/63266]
- (2008-11-15); One Voice Chorus [http://onevoicechorus.org] presents Bringing Out the Best: Beethoven, Brahms & Burleigh with special guest, world-class pianist Awadagin Pratt.
External links
- [http://www.awadagin.com/ Official site]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070824061253/http://prattmusicfoundation.com/awadagin.aspx Pratt Music Foundation]
- {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q46862|label=Awadagin Pratt}}
- [http://www.mchistory.org/perch/resources/Finding%20Aid%20PDFs/pratt-awadagin-1.pdf Awadagin Pratt Collection], McLean County Museum of History
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Awadagin}}
Category:American male classical pianists
Category:American male pianists
Category:Peabody Institute alumni
Category:African-American classical pianists
Category:EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists
Category:People from Normal, Illinois
Category:Articles containing video clips
Category:20th-century American pianists
Category:Classical musicians from Illinois
Category:21st-century American classical pianists
Category:20th-century American male musicians
Category:21st-century American male musicians
Category:American women classical pianists