Orion Weiss


Orion Weiss is an American classical pianist.

Academia

Weiss began his musical studies at the . When his family moved to Lyndhurst, Ohio, he continued his piano studies with Carol Lubetkin, and later with pianist and composer .
He attended the Interlochen Arts Camp between 1991 and 1995. Between 1995 and 2000 he studied with Paul Schenly, and Head of the Piano Department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. During these years, he attended summer music festivals and workshops at in the Hamptons, the Sergei Babayan International Piano Academy, , and Music Academy of the West. In 2004 he graduated from the Juilliard School in New York earning a Bachelor of Music degree. At Juilliard, he studied with Emanuel Ax.
Weiss has participated regularly in a teaching residency for gifted young musicians in Medellin, Colombia.

Career

In February 1999, Weiss made his debut performing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1.
In March 1999, with less than 24 hours' notice, Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the . He was immediately invited to return to the Orchestra for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in October 1999.
Weiss was featured in the 2004 edition of and the March 2004 as part of the next generation of great artists in classical music. He has performed with numerous orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, New World Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. He made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in April 2005. That same year, he made his European debut in a recital at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
Also in 2005, he toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Itzhak Perlman. He toured the US with the Orchester der Klangverwaltung Munich conducted by Enoch zu Guttenberg in October 2007. He toured China with the Pittsburgh Symphony in May 2009.
In 2010, he was featured in a recording project of the complete Gershwin works for piano and orchestra with the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta.
In the summer of 2011, Weiss made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at . He performed with the , Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, , the , the , and the , and at the , , , and summer festivals.
As a recitalist and chamber musician, Weiss has appeared across the United States at venues and festivals from, among many, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to the , to the Weill Recital Hall with Itzhak Perlman in a benefit for the Perlman Music Program. He was a member of the program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2002 to 2004, which included his appearance in the opening concert of the Society's 2002–03 season at Alice Tully Hall with . In addition, Weiss has performed duo-piano recitals with, among others, Emanuel Ax. Weiss described his preparation for recitals in a 2006 profile in .
Weiss made his recital debut at the in Washington D.C. in January 2012. He joined the Pacifica Quartet at the in the spring of 2012. He still tours regularly with the . Known for his affinity for chamber music, Weiss performs regularly with violinists Augustin Hadelich, William Hagen, Benjamin Beilman, James Ehnes, and Arnaud Sussman; pianist Shai Wosner; cellist Julie Albers; and the Ariel, Parker, and Pacifica Quartets.
In 2018, Weiss self-released Presentiment, a recording that explores the omens and anxiety of the tense world leading up to the first World War with music by Granados, Janáček, and Scriabin.

Personal life

Orion Weiss was married to the pianist , with whom he performed two-piano concertos with orchestra, as well as collaborating in duo-piano and four-hand recitals, including , , , , and the .
The two had a daughter together. They were divorced in 2019. Weiss is remarried, to Shirley Gherson, with whom he has a son.

Awards and recognitions

  • 1999
  • 2001 Mieczyslaw Munz Award at the Juilliard School
  • 2002
  • 2002, 2003 at the Juilliard School
  • 2005
  • 2010 Classical Recording Foundation's Young Artist of the Year
  • 2019 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award

Recordings

  • Works for piano and cello by Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Schumann with cellist , Artek AR-0022-2
  • J.S. Bach, Scriabin, Mozart, Carter, Audiophile digital recording
  • Gershwin: Concerto in F; Rhapsody No. 2; I Got Rhythm Variations – Orion Weiss, piano; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta, conductor, audio-only Blu-ray, CD
  • Orion Weiss Plays J.S. Bach, Scriabin, Mozart & Carter
  • Johannes Brahms: Sonatas for violin and piano
  • 42 Bartok Bagatelles, Dvorak Humoresques, Prokofiev Visions Fugitives
  • Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Strike up the Band Overture; Promenade; Catfish Row
  • Domenico Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 15
  • Christopher Rouse: Seeing; Kabir Padavali
  • Presentiment
  • Piano Protagonists: Music for Piano & Orchestra
  • ''Arc III: Brahms, Schubert, Debussy, Dohnányi, Ligeti, Talma''