Christopher Oldfather, piano
Christopher Oldfather has devoted
himself to the performance of contemporary music for
over twenty years. He has participated in innumerable
world premiere performances, featuring every possible
combination of instruments, in cities all over America.
He has been a member of Collage New Music since 1979
and New York City's Parnassus since 1997. He appears
regularly in Chicago and has joined singers and instrumentalists
of all kinds in recitals throughout the United States.
In 1986 he presented his recital debut in Carnegie
Recital Hall, which then closed immediately for renovations.
Since then he has pursued a career as a freelance
musician, which has taken him as far afield as Moscow
and Tokyo and has seen him play virtually every sort
of keyboard ever made, including the Chromelodeon.
He is widely known for his expertise on the harpsichord
and is one of the leading interpreters of contemporary
works for that instrument. As a soloist Mr. Oldfather
has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the New
World Symphony, and Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt,
Germany. He has collaborated with the conductor Robert
Craft and can be heard on several of his recordings.
His recording of Elliott Carter's violin-piano Duo
with Robert Mann was nominated for two Grammy Awards
in 1990.