Stephen Prutsman has been described as one of the most innovative musicians of his time. Moving easily from classical to jazz to world music styles as a pianist and composer, Prutsman continues to explore and seek common ground and relationships in the music of all cultures and languages.
As former Artistic Partner with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Prutsman wrote several new works for the orchestra, led performances as a conductor and pianist, and developed the orchestra’s contemporary and world music series. Subsequently, as Artistic Director of the Cartagena International Festival of Music he programmed and curated concerts with themes ranging from Mozart celebrations, to eclectic evenings of folk and popular music of the Americas, to hybrid programs fusing art and dance music of multiple musical dimensions.
A medal winner at the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Prutsman has performed the classical concerto repertoire as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras. His classical discography includes acclaimed recordings of the Barber and McDowell concerti with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, recordings of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, and a solo jazz album entitled Passengers.
As a composer, Prutsman’s long collaboration with Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has resulted in over 40 arrangements and compositions for them. Other leading artists and ensembles who have performed Stephen’s compositions and arrangements include Leon Fleisher, Dawn Upshaw, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Yo-Yo Ma, Spoleto USA, and the Silk Road Project. As a pianist or arranger outside of the classical music world he has collaborated with such diverse personalities as Tom Waits, Rokia Traore, Jon Anderson of “YES”, Sigur Rós and Asha Bhosle. He has scored for a variety of ensembles 15 silent films from the 1920s which are regularly presented at various venues throughout the world.
He is a board member of several organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area promoting the well-being of people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities and regularly produces and curates “Azure Concerts“— musical performances tailored for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. He was recently named Creative Director for Phenotypic Recordings, a new company specializing in recordings of contemporary music, and in January of 2023 Prutsman began a 2-year appointment as Visiting Artist at Stanford University.
Website: https://stephenprutsman.com/about