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The Radiohead music itself is
something of a muted splash of reality having a nice beat, sort of
a Tom Waits tour of classical potentials. The mind can envision a
new Jaguar traveling along
One of the most acclaimed and imaginative classical pianists of his generation, Christopher O'Riley will be performing his virtuoso piano interpretations of the repertoire of English art-rock band Radiohead at a series of recitals exclusively devoted to this material (see itinerary attached below) as well as other concerts with programs divided between this and conventional classical repertoire. These dates are added to an already busy schedule of strictly classical performances, both solo and with symphonies around the United States. In the midst of all this, O'Riley continues to tape installments of his highly successful weekly PRI program, "From The Top," currently the fifth highest-rated public radio show in the country. The music of Radiohead has been "the music 'in my head'"
for O'Riley ever since he discovered the Grammy Award-winning band with
the release of OK Computer in 1997. O'Riley's obsession with Radiohead's
songs only intensified when he heard more. It led him to create virtuoso
piano versions of the songs he could play and enjoy himself, and he introduces
them to the general listening
[Christopher O'Riley] is melodically vivid yet also noisily
orchestral,
By stripping away the textures of the originals, [Christopher
O'Riley]
Radiohead's cryptic, intricate music lends itself perfectly to [Christopher O'Riley's] interpretive skill. Since he began playing fragments of the band's songs as station-break filler on "From the Top," the public radio show he hosts for young musicians, he often finds himself spending 12 hours and more nonstop, puzzling out another Radiohead song for transcription. The result is a gorgeous set of would-be nocturnes and rhapsodies featuring some of those murky melodies so recognizable to fans of the band -- "Everything In Its Right Place," "Fake Plastic Trees," "Exit Music (For a Film)." - Sunday San Francisco Chronicle/James Sullivan June 8, 2003 In O'Riley's hands, the [music] has the feeling of a musical merger, in which an accomplished classical pianist's refined touch and musicality add sophistication to pop music, even if it already strains to move beyond pop simplicity. The worlds collide in interesting ways. - Sunday Los Angeles Times/Joe Woodard June 8, 2003 O'Riley loves these songs because exposed to the elements they still feel warm to the touch--because the band, despite its best/worst efforts, still writes astonishing songs it would prefer to bury than praise. They need no guitars, no static, no singer--no words, in other words, just someone with a match and a can of gas to set them ablaze. -- Dallas Observer/Robert Wilonsky June 5, 2003 O'Riley was hooked on his first encounter with the music of Radiohead. "The band takes craft seriously," he says of Radiohead's "pristine songwriting and experimentation." "I've listened to everything I could get my hands on, including b-sides and rare live tracks," he continues. "Transcribing music is not my usual area of expertise as an interpreter, yet on occasion throughout my concert career I have made piano versions of music I especially covet … it was not until my obsessions with Radiohead that I felt compelled to tackle dozens of songs as a single project." O'Riley has always been adventurous and uninhibited in
programming his recitals and concerts, and his enthusiasm for Radiohead
is typical of his wide-ranging interests. Because the band's music
has never been published as sheet music, the pianist's only recourse in
performing the songs was to work out his own
"That's what got the message out," O'Riley says. "My performances lived on the show's Web site, and all the Radiohead fan sites linked them. By then it had become clear that this was a record." True Love Waits features the pianist's transcriptions
of 15 Radiohead songs written by the band's five members - Thomas Yorke,
Jonathan Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Philip Selway and Edward O'Brien.
Selections were drawn from five of Radiohead's albums: Pablo Honey, The
Bends, OK Computer, Kid A and Amnesiac.
O'Riley has and continues to enjoy a thriving traditional
concert career that includes solo recitals, chamber music and orchestral
performances of the standard piano literature, as well as other keyboard
works reaching from the English Renaissance to the modern tango.
He has won top prizes at the Van Cliburn,
Pianist Christopher O'Riley's True Love Waits will be featured at on Sony Classical's Web site at www.sonyclassical.com. The site will include album art, track listings, sound clips, multimedia features and more. Sony Classical's Web site is an online resource for exploring the label's entire catalogue of recordings, features an online radio show, album supersites, multimedia, artist biographies, tour schedules and discographies for all Sony Classical artists, as well as special promotions, and much more.
CHRISTOPHER O'RILEY ITINERARY Date
City
Venue
*June 20
Tijuana, Mexico CECUT Theatre/Mainly Mozart Festival
July 3-8
Jackson Hole, WY Grand Teton Festival
*July 20
Portland, OR Portland State University
*August 8-10
Santa Cruz, CA Cabrillo Festival
August 14-15
Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh Symphony
September 20-22
Houston, TX Houston Symphony
September 27-28 St.
Louis, MO St. Louis Symphony
October 5
Boston, MA Jordan Hall ("From The Top" taping
- contact:
October 11
Evanston, IL Northwestern
University
October 14
San Luis Obispo, CA Cal Poly Tech
October 18 Lubbock,
TX Allen Theater, Texas Tech University
October 24-25
San Antonio, TX San Antonio Symphony
November 20
Tacoma, WA Broadway Center (All-Radiohead
Recital)
An artist whose poetic gifts and captivating virtuosity have made him one of the most important and versatile pianists performing before the public today, Christopher O'Riley enjoys a thriving concert career. His singularly broad repertoire ranges from music of the English Renaissance and French Baroque periods to the new works of today's leading composers to such non-classical forms as the tango. He also plays many of his own arrangements and transcriptions. His performing schedule regularly takes him to major cities
throughout North America and he has been highlighted by frequent engagements
at both Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center. Internationally, he has
appeared in cultural capitals worldwide from London, Paris and Vienna to
Hong Kong and Melbourne,
Christopher O'Riley makes his debut on the Odyssey/Sony Classical label with the worldwide release this spring of True Love Waits: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead, a new recording that introduces his piano transcriptions of songs by the alternative rock band Radiohead. Recognition of O'Riley's talent has been widespread.
His honors include top prizes at the Van Cliburn, Leeds, Busoni and Montreal
competitions, as well as an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Andrew Wolf
Memorial Chamber Music Prize. As an emerging young pianist, he enjoyed
the sponsorship of Young Concert
O'Riley's recordings also reflect the originality of his
programming. Among his highly acclaimed solo releases are a Scriabin
disc for Image Recordings and an all-Stravinsky disc on Elektra Nonesuch,
featuring "Three Movements from Petrouchka" and O'Riley's own transcriptions
of Apollo and L'Histoire du Soldat. He can also be heard on an RCA
Victor Red Seal release of French repertoire for flute and piano with James
Galway. His discography is further
Even as he explores new stylistic territory, O'Riley remains
in demand for his unique interpretations of the standard piano literature.
He is a favorite guest with the foremost orchestras in Boston, Los Angeles,
New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Kansas City,
Atlanta, Pittsburgh and
In addition to his regular touring, O'Riley has recently
undertaken several new projects. He has established Los Tangueros,
a partnership with Argentine pianist Pablo Ziegler that has been touring
with a program of two-piano arrangements of Astor Piazzolla's classic tangos.
In the spring of 1999 he began a collaboration with choreographer and director
Martha Clarke, who has staged
Christopher O'Riley is the recipient of an Artist's Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Russell Sherman. He maintains a website at www.christopheroriley.com. The Link below will take you to the Radiohead site where
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