Yael Weiss, Piano
A captivating presence on the concert scene, award-winning pianist Yael Weiss has been hailed by many of today's greatest musicians and critics for visionary interpretations of surpassing depth, immediacy and communicative power. Following a recent recital, the Washington Post portrayed her as “a pianist who delves deeply and tellingly into that cloudy area where fantasy morphs into improvisation, inventiveness being common to both.”
Ms. Weiss has performed across the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea and South America at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Benaroya Hall, Moscow’s Bolshoi Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall. Her New York recital debut, presented by the Metropolitan Museum, was acclaimed by the New York Timesas, "remarkably powerful and intense . . . fine technique and musicianship in the service of an arresting array of music." Ms. Weiss has appeared as soloist with many international orchestras, including the Prague Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Israel Chamber Orchestra, and the Brazil National Symphony, to name a few. She is also in demand at international music festivals, such as Marlboro, Ravinia, City of London, Banff, Parry Sound, Caramoor, and the Seattle Chamber Music Festival.
Weiss’s discography encompasses piano works by over a dozen composers, with two releases, “Robert Schumann: Piano Works” and “88 Keys to Joy”, on the Koch International Classics label. Ms. Weiss is also devoted to chamber music, and tours worldwide with violinist Mark Kaplan and cellist Peter Stumpf as the Weiss-Kaplan-Stumpf Trio (previously the Weiss-Kaplan-Newman Trio). The Trio’s discography includes CDs of Brahms, Smetana, Chihara and Lerdahl trios, as well as a new-music release, “An American Tour”, featuring world premiere recordings of compositions by American composers. Currently the trio is recording Beethoven’s complete Piano Trios for the Bridge Records label.
Ms. Weiss’s current touring schedule includes concerto and recital appearances in the US, Canada, Germany and Israel. This summer’s upcoming festival appearances include the Hornby Island Festival in Canada, the Birdfoot Festival in New Orleans, and Indiana University’s Summer Music Festival. She is presenting performances of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas as well as lectures and workshops devoted to those masterpieces. Among her other special projects are world premieres of works by Lera Auerbach, Joel Feigin, Michael Gilbertson, Paul Chihara and Paul Schoenfield, as well as premiere performances with the Israel Camerata Orchestra of a new re-orchestration for Grieg’s piano concerto.
Having been a frequent guest on NPR’s Performance Today, American Public Media’s St. Paul Sunday, the BBC in London, and multiple shows on New York’s WQXR and WNYC, Yael Weiss is known to radio and television audiences worldwide. Her 2016 recital from the National Gallery was selected for broadcast on WETA’s “Front Row Washington”. She has appeared numerous times on Israeli television, and presented a recital filmed live for NHK television in Japan.
Ms. Weiss has been honored with distinguished prizes from the Naumburg International Piano Competition and the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition. She is a recipient of the Presser Award as well as grants from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. She studied with Richard Goode and Edward Aldwell at the Mannes College of Music and with Leon Fleisher and Ellen Mack at the Peabody Conservatory.
Yael Weiss has presented master-classes for top institutions worldwide and served on the faculties of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, UC Santa Barbara and the Heifetz Institute. Connecting with new audiences online, Ms. Weiss created and recorded “Classical Minutes”, a popular series of daily podcasts available on iTunes.
Away from the piano, Yael Weiss is an avid runner, regularly taking part in marathons and other long-distance races. Born in Israel, she currently makes her home in New York City.