Conrad Yiwen Tao (born June 11, 1994) is an American composer and pianist and former violinist. Tao's piano and violin performances since childhood brought him early recognition at music festivals and competitions. At age 13, he was featured on the PBS TV series From the Top – Live from Carnegie Hall as violinist, pianist and composer. He won eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. Among his compositions have been commissions by the New York Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony and Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Among other honors, Tao is a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, a Davidson Fellow Laureate and a Gilmore Foundation Young Artist. He was the only classical artist named by Forbes magazine in 2011 as one of the "30 Under 30" in the music industry. In 2012, Tao released a solo piano EP, The Juilliard Sessions: Conrad Tao Plays Debussy and Stravinsky, and a synthpop album, Eyelids. Several more albums have followed. Also in 2012, he was an Avery Fisher Career Grant awardee. He produced and hosted a three-night music festival, the UNPLAY Festival, in New York City in 2013. He was artist-in-residence for Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 2015/16 and Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2017.
Early life and career Tao was born in Urbana, Illinois to Sam Tao, an engineer, and Mingfang Ting, a research scientist. Both parents were born in China and earned doctorates from Princeton University.Jepson, Barbara. "The Tao of Early Musical Success", The Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2008, accessed November 4, 2011 Hearing his older sister Connie's piano lessons, Tao began to play children's songs on the piano, by ear, at the age of 18 months.Pasternak, Jill. "Crossing Boundaries from Past to Future: Pianist Conrad Tao on Crossover", WRTI.org, June 1, 2013 He gave his first piano recital at age 4.Scholars , Presidential Scholars Foundation, accessed November 28, 2011 At age 8, he made his concerto debut with the Utah Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in A major.Conrad Tao", Juilliard School of Music, 2008, accessed April 20, 2012 At the age of 9, Tao moved with his family to New York City, and he began studying in the Juilliard School's Pre-College DivisionShellenbarger, Sue. "Raising an Accidental Prodigy", Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2011, accessed November 2, 2011 and at the Professional Children's School."Twelve-year-old Piano Prodigy appearing at Skaneateles Festival" , Eagle Newspapers, August 10, 2007, accessed June 3, 2013 He won the 2003 Walgreens National Concerto Competition as a violinist. In 2004, 2007 (live at Carnegie Hall) and 2011, Tao was featured on the PBS and NPR series From the Top as violinist, pianist and composer.Show 107, From the Top, 2004, accessed November 4, 2011; Season 1: Episode 13, From the Top: At Carnegie Hall, 2007, accessed November 4, 2011; and Show 232, From the Top, 2011, accessed November 4, 2011"Conrad Tao talks about his experience on From the Top", Pacific Symphony, YouTube, January 10, 2014
Tao won eight consecutive ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards from 2004 to 2011.Schweitzer, Vivien. "A Promising Star, Rising Above the Horizon", The New York Times, February 29, 2012 At age 10, his piano composition Silhouettes and Shadows won the BMI Carlos Surinach Prize. His first piano concerto, The Four Elements, was premiered in 2007 by the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio. In 2008, Tao was named a Davidson Fellow Laureate for his project, "Bridging Classical Music from the Past to the Future as Pianist and Composer"."Davidson Fellows - 2008", Davidson Institute for Talent Development, accessed January 22, 2012 In reviewing a 2008 piano recital in Berkeley, where Tao gave the U.S. premiere of his "Fantasy-Sonata", the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "The four movements of the piece tumble forth in a way that supports its hybrid title, suggesting both a free flow of ideas and an overarching structural framework. There are melodies for the ear to grab onto – especially in the slow movement, set against rippling left-hand accompaniment – and Tao varies and subverts them with glee; the intermezzo, with its spidery octave figures, is a little gem of sardonic wit."Kosman, Joshua. "Rumors are true about Conrad Tao", SFGate.com, November 4, 2008, accessed November 4, 2011 Other early compositions include pieces for solo piano and chamber music such as Tao's 2009 piano trio.Shulman, Laurie. "Program Notes: JFK Memorial Concert (Nov. 21–24)" , Dallas Symphony Orchestra, November 11, 2013
He won both the Juilliard Pre-College Gina Bachauer Piano Competition and the Prokofiev Concerto Competition in 2006. At the 2007 Festival del Sole, the 13-year-old Tao substituted for the ailing Italian pianist Fabio Bidini to play Serge Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Russian National Orchestra. One critic wrote, "nothing could prepare us for the talent that leapt from the stage. [Tao's] command of one of the classical repertoire's most difficult works was simply amazing."Carson, L. Pierce. "Wunderkind Conrad Tao, Ponti and Russian National Orchestra combine for spectacular musical magic at Festival del Sole", Napa Valley Register, July 18, 2007, accessed May 2, 2012 By the age of 16, Tao had appeared as a piano soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Utah Symphony and San Francisco Symphony, among many others."Conrad Tao biography", PENTATONE, accessed September 4, 2014
In 2008, Tao performed both Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor and Piano Concerto No. 1 in the same concert with the Miami Piano Festival Orchestra."The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia Featuring Conrad Tao: October 18, 5 PM on WRTI", WRTI, October 13, 2015 He repeated that feat nine times the next year with the Symphony of the Americas in Boca Raton.Conrad Tao , IMGArtists.com, accessed January 13, 2013 The same year, critic Harris Goldsmith, in Musical America, called Tao "the most exciting prodigy ever to come my way. His promise is limitless."Goldsmith, Harris. "2008: Young Artists: More Thrills of Discovery". Musical America, 2008, accessed February 16, 2012 The Wall Street Journal wrote of a 2008 concert: "In Mozart's dark-hued Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, Mr. Tao showed appealing freshness in his use of telling, expressive details that distinguish one interpretation from the next – a slight decrescendo here, a change of tonal color there, a heartfelt response to the piece. The crossed-hand passages and rapid scale runs were performed with consummate ease." In 2009, Tao's venues included the Ravinia FestivalWalker, Cassie. "First Class", Chicago Magazine, July 2009, accessed November 28, 2011 and Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre.video interview of Tao, YoungArts' YouTube channel, May 31, 2012, accessed November 25, 2014 Of a 2009 performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, the San Francisco Classical Voice commented: "The first movement was full of thrills: laser-sharp articulation and accuracy, powerful glissandos ... and, what's more, heartfelt expression. ... Expressiveness came even more to the fore in the second movement. Never have I heard a left hand with such hypnotic affect, with right-hand legato melodies as smooth as a trip down the Seine."Dunn, Jeff. "Spaced-Out Mussorgsky", San Francisco Classical Voice, May 5, 2009, accessed November 4, 2011
Tao studied piano with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Choong Mo Kang at Juilliard and composition with Christopher Theofanidis of Yale University.Conrad Tao, The Juilliard School, 2007, accessed January 21, 2013 He studied violin with Catherine Cho at Juilliard's Pre-College Division. He also studied for six summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2004 to 2009, mostly playing violin, which he believes has helped him to develop "an understanding of the dynamic between orchestra and soloist."Oksenhorn, Stewart. "Music festival: Tao thanks Aspen for lack of direction" , The Aspen Times, June 28, 2012"Where Dreams Begin: Interview with Conrad Tao", Aspen Music Festival and School, YouTube.com, November 7, 2013
2010 to 2011 Tao was composer-in-residence for the 2009–10 season with Chicago's Music in the Loft concert series. As part of this program, the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music commissioned his "String Quartet No. 2" for the Jasper Quartet, which they performed throughout the U.S.Van Cleve, Emily. "Pianist to Play Mozart Saturday", Albuquerque Journal, April 20, 2012Rosenthal, Fran. "Piano Prodigy: Conrad Tao in Recital", Arizona Musicfest, 2011, accessed April 20, 2012 After hearing Tao play the premiere of his Three Songs for Piano (2010), the reviewer of The Washington Post called them "well-constructed miniatures exploiting different moods and textures on the piano. The juxtaposition was admirable; Tao made no bones about concealing his influences, with Debussy first and foremost. ... But influences aside, his compositional voice is not "derivative" at all; you can discern a clear, fresh imagination".Battey, Robert. "The Baltimore Symphony, Conrad Tao, the BBC Concert Orchestra", The Washington Post, November 8, 2010, accessed November 4, 2011 Among Tao's 2010 performances was a concert with Utah Symphony that included Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.Newton, Catherine Reese. "Crowd rhapsodic over teen's Rach", The Salt Lake Tribune, October 9, 2010, accessed May 2, 2012 In the summer of 2010, Tao returned to the Aspen Music Festival as a guest artist to fill in on short notice as a piano soloist for an ailing Jeffrey Kahane.
Tao completed high school in 2011 by independent study through the Indiana University High School of Continuing Studies, while studying music in the Juilliard precollege program and performing concerts on tour."Davidson Fellow Laureate Conrad Tao", Davidson Institute for Talent Development, accessed January 22, 2012Alonso, Nathalie. "Pianist Conrad Tao CC ’15 Explores His Relationship to Music", Columbia College Today, Summer 2013, published online at columbia.edu on January 9, 2014 Of this schedule, he said: "It isn't always easy to be an active performer as well as a student. ... I love doing all of these things at once and giving myself as many challenges as I can, because I learn so much from the experiences that result. Everything I teach myself or see or do can be applied to a larger framework"."Spotlights: Conrad Tao" , Indiana University High School, School of Continuing Studies, 2010, accessed April 20, 2012 Later the same year, Tao began college in the Columbia University–Juilliard School joint bachelor's degree program.Ostertag, Emily. "Conrad Tao: between music and academics", Columbia Spectator, January 19, 2012