Awadagin Pratt

Awadagin Pratt, an acclaimed pianist, conductor, and educator, gained international recognition after winning the Naumburg International Piano Competition in 1992 and receiving a 1994 Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has performed globally with top orchestras including the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, and the New York Philharmonic; solo recitals at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center; and chamber collaborations with Zuill Bailey, Simone Dinnerstein, and the Harlem and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Highlights from the 2023-24 season include appearances with the Nashville, Utah, Bournemouth, and Annapolis Symphonies; A Far Cry at Boston’s Jordan Hall; and the Cincinnati, Manitoba, New Century, and IRIS Chamber Orchestras. Recital engagements include performances at Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall, the Washington Performing Arts Society, and the Irving S. Gilmore International Piano Festival. As a conductor, he became the Principal Conductor of the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra, returned to the podium of the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, and made his debut with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra (Tbilisi). He also had his operatic debut leading Porgy and Bess with the Greensboro Opera (North Carolina).

Following George Floyd's death, Pratt released Awadagin Pratt: Black in America, a podcast that blends Bach, Messaien, and Liszt's music with filmmaker Alrick Brown's visuals and Pratt's narration, which chronicles his life through accounts of the police stops and arrests he experienced for Driving while Black. In 2023, it was adapted into a documentary film by Michelle Bauer Carpenter.

Pratt’s most recent recording is STILLPOINT (New Amsterdam Records, 2023), which explores T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets through newly composed works by Tyshawn Sorey, Paola Prestini, Pēteris Vasks, Jessie Montgomery, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Alvin Singleton, and Judd Greenstein.

Pratt is founding director of the Next Generation Festival, the Art of the Piano Foundation, and the Nina Simone Piano Competition, a new biennial competition that showcases the talents of young Black pianists. He has adjudicated the Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, Cleveland International Piano Competition, Minnesota e-Competition, Unisa International Piano Competition, and the International Competition for Young Pianists. Pratt is currently Professor of Piano at the San Francisco Conservatory. He remains the only graduate of the Peabody Institute to earn performance certificates in three areas — violin, piano, and conducting. He has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Johns Hopkins University and honorary doctorates from Illinois Wesleyan University, Susquehanna University, and the Boston Conservatory.