Aaron Wunsch | Pianist

communicative sensitivity, pianist Aaron Wunsch appears regularly on concert stages throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He has performed in Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls at Lincoln Center, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and as soloist with the Yale and Colonial symphonies, among others. A ten-city solo recital tour of China garnered critical acclaim and enthusiastic audience responses.

Lauded for his “masterful” chamber music performances (Hartford Courant), he has appeared at the Norfolk, Bowdoin, Sarasota, Great Lakes, and Yellow Barn chamber music festivals, collaborating in performance with great artists including cellist Lynn Harrell, clarinetist Charles Neidich, violinist Rolf Schulte, and the New York Woodwind Quintet. Also a vigorous proponent of contemporary music, he has worked closely with many renowned composers, including Charles Wuorinen, Fred Lerdahl, and Kaija Saariaho, and has performed recent works by Saariaho and John Adams during Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music. These performances and others, including many world premieres, can be heard on major radio stations, including WGBH in Boston and WQXR in New York. In January, 2004, he performed Charles Ives’ monumental Concord Sonata during the Lincoln Center Focus! Festival and was subsequently invited to perform it at the Salle Cortot in Paris, France. While in London he performed and recorded for commercial CD six exciting new works by young composers inspired by Anton Webern’s Concerto for Nine Instruments, op. 24.

A native of Wisconsin, Mr. Wunsch began his studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, which awarded him the school’s First Prize for five consecutive years. Afterwards he studied with many renowned pianists, including Peter Frankl, Andras Schiff, Claude Frank, Emmanuel Ax, Steven Kovacevich, Seymour Lipkin, Jerome Lowenthal, and Joseph Kalichstein. Mr. Wunsch received his Bachelor’s degree cum laude from Yale University, which granted him the Henry Hart Rice Prize for the best essay in International Studies, entitled “The Impact of Ideologies upon the Formation of Music.” He then received a Fulbright Grant for further studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where he studied piano under renowned pedagogue Karlheinz Kämmerling, and he later completed his Master’s and Doctoral degrees at The Juilliard School under pianist Robert McDonald. He also performs on the harpsichord, having studied it under Lionel Party at Juilliard.

An accomplished teacher, Mr. Wunsch is currently an adjunct faculty member at Juilliard and an Assistant Professor in Piano at William Paterson University. He also frequently lectures about American music, most recently at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. In the summer of 2004 he gave six weeks of master classes at conservatories and universities throughout China, including those in Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanning, and Guilin, and in the summer of 2007 he was a guest artist and faculty member at the Jakarta International Summer Music Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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SCHEDULE

April 13, 2009, 7:30pm
William Paterson University
New Music Series
"Retrouvailles" and "Matribute" by Elliott Carter

June 15-16, 2009, 8:00pm
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
Commissioned work by Szymon Broska

June 17-28
Jakarta International Summer Music Festival
Jakarta, Indonesia
pianist in residence

July 7-12
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
The Berkshires, MA
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
Commissioned work by Szymon Broska
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Recent performances:

March 13, 7:00 pm
Alexandra Osborne, violin
Carol McGonnel, clarinet
Julia Bruskin, cello
San Marcos, Texas

March 12, 8 pm
Juilliard at Texas State
Texas State University

February 26, 2009, 4pm
Amir Eldan, cello
Morse Hall, The Juilliard School

November 10, 7pm
William Paterson U. New Music Series
Julia Bruskin, cello
Carter Cello Sonata
William Paterson Univ
Wayne, NJ

November 7, 7:30pm
North Atlanta Center for the Arts

October 20, 7:30pm
Rolf Schulte, violin
Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet
Music Mondays
New York, NY

May 18, 4pm
Kees Kooper, violin
Chapel of Our Lady Restoration
Cold Spring, NY

May 3, 8pm
Sharon Roffman, violin
Ringwood Friends of Music
Ringwood, NJ

April 1
Rolf Schulte, violin
Queens College
New York, NY

March 31, 4pm
Lecture Recital: Learning from Schubert the Pianist
Morse Hall, The Juilliard School
New York, NY

March 15, 8pm
Colonial Symphony
Paul Hostetter, conductor
Schumann Concerto
Morristown, NJ

March 7
Joint collaboration with Juilliard
musicians, dancers, and actors
Texas State University
San Marcos, TX

February 10, 7pm
Works by Brandeis composers
Brandeis University
Boston, MA

February 3, 8pm
TALEA Ensemble
NEON Festival
Las Vegas, NV

February 2, 7:30pm
TALEA Ensemble
NEON Festival
Las Vegas, NV

February 1, 7:30pm
TALEA Ensemble
NEON Festival
Las Vegas, NV

January 31, 7:30pm
TALEA Ensemble
NEON Festival
Las Vegas, NV

January 22, 2pm
Jennifer Curtis, violin
Merkin Concert Hall
New York, NY

PHOTOS

NEWS

Welcome to the new aaronwunsch.com!

On May 23, 2008, Aaron received the Richard F. French Prize from the Juilliard School upon graduating with his doctorate in piano performance.

Aaron is artistic director of the Music Mondays concert series. The new season begins September 22nd. Click here for more information.

For an article from the New Jersey Daily Record about Aaron's recent concerto performance with the Colonial Symphony, click here.

AUDIO

Prelude in G# Minor, op. 32
Sergei Rachmaninov

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"The Alcotts" from Sonata No. 2, "Concord" by Charles Ives
Recorded live, Salle Cortot, Paris

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Prelude No. 2
Sean Shepherd

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Prelude No. 3
Sean Shepherd

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Nights in the Gardens of Spain,
II. movement
Manuel de Falla
with the High Mountain Symphony, Paul Hostetter, conductor

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Clarinet Trio, op. 114, IV
Johannes Brahms
with Charles Neidich
and Amy Sue Barston

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Sonata in D Major, D. 850, I
Franz Schubert

CONTACT

email: awunsch@gmail.com
60 Lincoln Center Plaza, Box #4
New York, NY 10023

LINKS

www.adventnyc.org/musicmondays
www.eastcoastcomposers.com
www.wpunj.edu
www.juilliard.edu