Awadagin Pratt

Awadagin Pratt is a musical triple-threat performer, being the Peabody Conservatory's first student awarded simultaneous performance degrees in three areas: piano, violin, and conducting. However, he spends the majority of his professional career as a pianist performing as a soloist, as a collaborator in chamber music projects, and as an educator at a variety of programs, whether at schools or festivals. Pratt was born on March 6, 1966, in Pittsburgh. His father's family in Sierra Leone valued education, and everyone was taught to play piano or organ, as well as sports. The same ideals were passed on to Pratt, who learned both piano and violin as a child and, despite being a ranked tennis player and offered sports scholarships, entered the University of Illinois at the young age of 16 to study music. After graduating from Peabody, Pratt was awarded first prize at the prestigious Naumberg Competition in 1992. He was the first African-American artist to win that honor, and it was the first time he felt financially secure as a performer. Pratt received a lot of favorable and deserved attention following this, including being signed to an exclusive contract with EMI and then receiving an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994. His first recording was titled A Long Way from Normal, referencing his childhood in Normal, Illinois. A low piano bench, dreadlocks, and dress casual performance attire are his signature, with the last intended to make classical music less intimidating to the general public. Admirers note that when he performs, the music and his interpretation take precedence over any other aspect. Other early recordings include Live from South Africa, a disc of Beethoven sonatas, and 2002's Play Bach with the St. Lawrence String Quartet. After a recording hiatus, Pratt returned in 2011 on the Telarc label, backing cellist Zuill Bailey on an album of Brahms sonatas for cello and piano. In 2023, he released the contemporary music recital Stillpoint on the New Amsterdam label, joined by the vocal group Roomful of Teeth and the instrumental ensemble A Far Cry. Pratt joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2004, remaining there until 2023 when he moved to the San Francisco Conservatory. He continues to perform some 30 concerts annually in the U.S. and abroad, and he has also been active as a conductor and violinist.
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