Following his debut at the Philips Collection, the Washington Post summed it up this way: "Aristocratic, exhilarating…he has a powerful technique and he enjoys reveling in it… a projection of personality that makes interpretation highly individual but illuminates rather than exploits the music. A major pianist who should have a big career; a pianist who can unlock the secrets of the great romantic composers."

Those who have heard pianist Roger Wright's live recordings on CD or been fortunate to attend one of his concerts, know why he is so widely regarded as a phenomenal pianist. Certainly, he impresses listeners with his commanding technique, his sensitivity to piano sound, and for his astute musical intelligence. Yet what sets him apart is his uncanny ability to communicate so directly and affectionately with audiences in a manner that is as fresh as it is exciting. vRoger Wright first gained international attention when he won the 24th Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition in New York City, which led to his debut at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. His international reputation was further enhanced when he was eliminated from the 2000 Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia. The decision of the jury precipitated mass protest from listeners who followed the competition via national radio broadcast and worldwide webcast. In response to this unprecedented outpouring of support, the Australian Broadcasting Company, the competition's principal sponsor, offered him a recording contract. It later released his debut CD that featured Wright's performances at the competition. His recording of Between Five Bells from this CD earned composer Peter Sculthorpe the Australian Performing Rights Associations (APRA) Award for the Most Performed Contemporary Classical Composition of 2001.

Winner of the Gold Medal and two other awards at the 2003 San Antonio International Piano Competition, Roger Wright was also a finalist at the 3rd Esther Honens International Piano Competition. He was also one of only 32 competitors selected from more than 400 applicants worldwide for participation in the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Again demonstrating his unusual appeal to audiences, his audio and video recordings of his performances there outsold those of his fellow competitors.

A native Texan, Roger Wright was born in 1974. He has been performing to the acclaim of audiences worldwide since his debut with the Houston Symphony at the age of 18. Recent performances include recitals in San Diego, Charleston (SC), Cincinnati, New York, Ft. Worth, Houston, and Los Angeles. His performances have been broadcast on ABC Australia, CBC Radio Canada, 105.1 K-Mozart in Los Angeles and WQXR in New York City, most recently on David Dubal's celebrated series, Reflections from the Keyboard. His teachers have included John and Nancy Weems, Ruth Tomfohrde, Abbey Simon, and John Perry.

Mr. Wright currently resides in Los Angeles where he pursues a Doctorate of Music at the University of Southern California. A versatile performer, Roger Wright is an avid chamber music musician, and was twice awarded a fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival in 2000 and 2001. He has also toured internationally with Hudson Shad, the celebrated comedian harmonists, and performs with them in a recently filmed PBS documentary. In 2002, at the invitation of the Americus Records label, he co-produced a recording of Richard Strauss's melodrama, Enoch Arden, featuring the celebrated actor, Michael York. When not performing, Mr. Wright is one of the premier Scrabble players in the world, having distinguished himself in several international tournaments. In this capacity he was interviewed by Katy Couric for the Today Show, and appears as well in Erik Chaikin's award winning documentary film, Word Wars, featured at the Sun Dance Film Festival.

REVIEWS

"You recognize it immediately when you hear it. A long, arching, beautiful line that sings naturally, the way a fine singer sings. A true pianissimo poised just above audibility, natural gradations of sonority between very soft and very loud, and a thundering fortissimo that resounds without clamor or ugly overtones. A way of voicing chords so that inner voices have their own dappled color and richness. A projection of personality that makes interpretation highly individual but illuminates rather than exploits the music. These are some of the characteristics that mark the true romantic pianist, a pianist who can unlock the secrets of the great romantic composers. All of that and more was on display in Roger Wright's recital Sunday at the Phillips Collection. Wright, at 26, has a powerful technique and he enjoys reveling in it. He took the Schumann Toccata - which makes inhuman demands on the wrist - at a burning tempo that was always under control, and along the way he shaped Schumann's contrapuntal lines with remarkable tonal beauty and masterful control of inner voices. The Chopin Sonata in B-flat Minor was a gorgeous display of effortlessly flowing melody, rhapsodic bravura and electrifying passagework. This was aristocratic, exhilarating Chopin that sounded freshly conceived and spontaneous in every bar. Frederic Rzewski's "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" erupted in huge sonic clusters that threatened to tear the recital hall asunder. Wright is virtually unknown, but he is a major pianist who should have a big career."

Ronald Broun, Washington Post, March 2001
 

"Wright has been impressive for his commanding technique and even more for his sensitivity to piano sound and general musical intelligence…[His] performances of Liebermann...and Rzewski were absolutely riveting. But Wright also possesses the most liquid, romantic piano tone imaginable..."

Kenneth DeLong Calgary Herald November 2000
 

"A savvy, elegant, and charismatic pianist, Wright commands an astonishing but musically informed technical apparatus...he will turn heads before long."

John Bell Young, American Record Guide, March/April 1999
 

"CD of the year, in my view, is a recently released ABC Classics recording of pianist Roger Wright."

Neville Cohn, The West Australian , January 2001
 

"Roger Wright played…with a technique equal to Marc-Andre Hamelin's, a charismatic presence and a fine musical mind to boot…He stole the show."

Clavier Magazine, February 1999
 

"Wright is indeed a phenomenal pianist, but he is also a profoundly insightful and imaginative artist who is fully aware that along with a virtuoso technique goes an awesome responsibility: making music. Indeed, what concerns him are not just the notes, but what goes on in between them." -

John Bell Young, The St. Petersburg Times, February 2001
 

"...As with any competition, there are stars and one that shone resplendently was the 26-year-old American Pianist Roger Wright. His diet wasn't one of the competition standards, but even when he did choose to play pieces frequently aired in competitions - a Chopin B flat minor Sonata of Rubinstein-like nobility, for instance - they were newly lit, magnificently unfolded. His choice of American contemporary music (by Fabregas) and his Schumann and Haydn hovered around the elegant and rarefied worlds of Kempff, Haskil and Lupu."

Cyrus Meher-Homji, International Record Review
 

"Wright, the Houston-born gold medal winner of the 2003 San Antonio International Piano Competition, delivered two contemporary works requiring jaw-dropping displays of virtuosity before joining the [Camerata San Antonio] Quartet for the Dvorak. The second of these was a vigorous, fleet-fingered account of William Mason's jazz-flavored "Toccata," which had impressed piano-competition audiences last fall. The first was an astonishingly evocative score by Frederic Rzewski, 'Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues', which begins with rumbling low-bass tone clusters and repeated chromatic tics that actually sound like noisy machinery…Wright's traversal was facile, confident and utterly absorbing....Those who followed the competition knew that Wright has a commanding technique whose dynamics range from whispery soft to absolutely teeth-rattling. Thus, it was particularly enlightening to hear him as part of an ensemble. For the Dvorak, he proved an intuitive collaborator, moving in and out of the textures, flirting with the strings or taking the lead with confidence. The result was an impassioned, wholly committed traversal by all the musicians, concluding a concert that will be memorable on several levels"

Diane Windeler, San Antonio Express-News
 

"Pianist Roger Wright attracted attention as a result of being eliminated from the 2000 Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia. The decision brought forth numerous protests from listeners who followed the competition via national radio broadcast. …. There's no questioning the formidable technique and control…. Wright caresses Schumann's Blumenstück with easy, alluringly-tinted rubatos, Debussy's Minstrels struts its stuff in fits and starts….Haydn's wonderful two-movement C major Sonata No. 58….features an eloquently spun Andante, with the final measures timed to perfection. In all, Wright displays wide ranging tastes and blossoming talents that add up to a promising debut disc. I look forward to hearing more…"

Jed Distler, Classics Today
 

"Gold medallist Roger Wright, 29, the Houston native who took second prize in the 1997 competition, had given a stunning account of the Schumann C-Major Toccata during the semifinals, which earned him the prize for Best Performance of a Romantic Work. Without the pressure of judging, his reading of it Saturday was revelatory, a "light show" of variegated tone and shading, offered with masterful ambidexterity and a clear eye to the score's architecture. Wright's performance of Chopin's Barcarolle in F Major was exquisitely shaped and pliant, done with wonderful dramatic sweep. For contrast, there was his energetic view of a jazz-flavored toccata written just last year by W. Mason"

Diane Windeler, San Antonio Express-News

AUDIO AND VIDEO SAMPLES

Video

Audio

• Chopin Sonata B flat First Movement
• Chopin Sonata B flat Fourth Movement
• Rzewski: Winnsboro Cottonmill Blues
• Schubert Sonata in D major, Second Movement
• Schubert: Sonata in B flat, Mvts. 3 & 4
• Schumann: Blumenstuck
• Schumann: Toccata
• Soler: Sonata in C sharp minor
• Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 3 (Finale)

Contact details and further information

E-mail IMCA

For further details, see Roger Wright's website