David Friend, piano
As a champion of new and experimental music, David Friend is taking piano performance in new directions. As chamber musician and soloist, he is dedicated to projects that push boundaries and explore new ideas about what contemporary pianism can be. A fearless performer, he has been hailed by critics for his adventurous programming and his captivating performances. His playing has been described as “astonishingly compelling” (Washington Post), and The New York Times calls him “[one] of the finest, busiest pianists active in New York’s contemporary-classical scene.”
He has performed at major venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Festival Hall (London), the Chan Centre (Vancouver), and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing) and in major festivals including the Lincoln Center Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Ecstatic Music Festival, and the Bang on a Can Marathon.
Friend has performed with respected new music groups including the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ensemble Signal, Hotel Elefant, and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and he is a founding member of both TRANSIT New Music and Grand Band, NYC’s piano sextet super-group. He collaborates extensively with living composers and has worked with some of the most notable composers of our time including Steve Reich, Charles Wuorinen, and David Lang. He has recorded for the New Amsterdam, Harmonia Mundi, Albany, and Innova labels, and his performances have been broadcast nationally, including on NPR’s Performance Today.
Originally from coastal Louisiana, an area noted for its cultural and ecological richness, David Friend migrated to New York City to study with Phillip Kawin at the Manhattan School of Music, where he attained both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate at Cornell, working with Xak Bjerken in the Keyboard Studies program with a focus on the performance practice of contemporary and experimental keyboard music.
For more information, visit davidfriendpiano.com.
Mr. Friend will appear in John Luther Adams’s Immeasurable Space of Tones on the festival’s first concert on Thursday, March 5, and will appear on the performance of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux on Saturday, March 7.
He has performed at major venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Festival Hall (London), the Chan Centre (Vancouver), and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing) and in major festivals including the Lincoln Center Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Ecstatic Music Festival, and the Bang on a Can Marathon.
Friend has performed with respected new music groups including the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ensemble Signal, Hotel Elefant, and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, and he is a founding member of both TRANSIT New Music and Grand Band, NYC’s piano sextet super-group. He collaborates extensively with living composers and has worked with some of the most notable composers of our time including Steve Reich, Charles Wuorinen, and David Lang. He has recorded for the New Amsterdam, Harmonia Mundi, Albany, and Innova labels, and his performances have been broadcast nationally, including on NPR’s Performance Today.
Originally from coastal Louisiana, an area noted for its cultural and ecological richness, David Friend migrated to New York City to study with Phillip Kawin at the Manhattan School of Music, where he attained both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate at Cornell, working with Xak Bjerken in the Keyboard Studies program with a focus on the performance practice of contemporary and experimental keyboard music.
For more information, visit davidfriendpiano.com.
Mr. Friend will appear in John Luther Adams’s Immeasurable Space of Tones on the festival’s first concert on Thursday, March 5, and will appear on the performance of Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux on Saturday, March 7.
