|
Stephen Prutsman, pianist |
Born in Los Angeles in 1960, Stephen first began playing the piano by ear before moving on to more formal music studies. In his early teens he was the keyboard player for several art rock groups, and enjoyed a moment of musical irony when he won television's Gong Show as a pseudo honky-tonk pianist. In college, Stephen supported himself by playing jazz in various clubs and lounges throughout southern California and by working as the music arranger and pianist for a nationally syndicated televangelist program.
In the early 1990's he was a medal winner at the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth piano competitions and was the recipient of an Avery Fischer Career Grant, which established his career as a concert pianist and led to performances with leading orchestras in the U.S. and Europe. In 2004, Stephen was appointed to the position of Artistic Partner with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, where he currently acts as composer, arranger, program host and pianist conducting concerti from the keyboard.
Stephen's dedication to the creation of new musical environments, coupled with his love for chamber music, led him to found music festivals in such far-flung places as the island of Guam and El Paso, TX, where he served as music director for 10 years. He currently holds the position of Artistic Partner with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra where he hosts their chamber music series, and regularly travels with his trio Nobilis in Europe and the US as well as through diverse locales throughout the developing world.
As a composer, Stephen's long collaboration with the Kronos Quartet has resulted in over 40 arrangements. In the fall of 2006 Kronos presented a retrospective of some of Stephen's works along with the world premiere of his new piece for quartet and sound design. Other leading artists and ensembles who have performed Stephen's compositions and arrangements include Leon Fleisher (his mentor and former teacher), Dawn Upshaw, the St. Lawrence Quartet, Yo-Yo Ma, Spoleto USA, and the Silk Road Project. As a pianist or arranger outside of the classical music world he has collaborated with Tom Waits, Dan Zane, Tony McMahon, Rokia Traore, and Asha Bhosle. His film work includes arrangements heard in Big Bad Love, The Man Who Cried and a recording with violinist Pamela Frank of a Beethoven sonata for Immortal Beloved.
This season's premieres include Septet, a work written by Stephen for the inauguration of the Michigan Chamber Music Society, a new work for piano four hands, and his contribution to a cycle of new silent film scores, performed with the St. Lawrence Quartet in Maine. Also forthcoming are a concert fantasy on themes from Der Rosenkavalier and a collaboration with friend and composer Osvaldo Golijov on a violin and piano transcription of a Golijov aria. The current season with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra will include Worldbeat, a new series featuring arrangements for the orchestra and folk musicians from Iraq, Iran and India; and performances of piano concerti by Ravel and Mozart along with Stephen's own Jazz Fantasy on the name B-A-C-H for piano and strings.
Stephen's recent recordings include the MacDowell Piano Concertos with the National Symphony of Ireland and the Barber Piano Concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Two new recordings are soon to be released, under the name 'Brotzman': one of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the other a solo piano jazz album. Stephen lives in San Francisco with his wife Sigrid and their two children, Alexander and Eloise.