On January 31, 2025 Conrad Tao made his Zankel Hall recital debut presented by Carnegie Hall performing works on both the Piano and Lumatone. The event marked the first time a Lumatone was played at Carnegie Hall. See review highlights below:
The pianist and composer Conrad Tao, a phenomenal talent and a mighty creative force, had the brass to treat his first Zankel Hall recital as a work in progress rather than a meticulously packaged event. Positioning the two halves of Debussy’s dozen études as bookends, he fleshed out the middle of the program with his own improvisations, arrangements, and compositions, and a detour to the latest in electronic instruments. All of it suggested a musician who isn’t ready to settle down yet, and, I hope, never will be.
-Vulture
Composer and pianist Conrad Tao surges with talent. In his Zankel Hall debut solo recital on Friday evening, this consummate and endlessly creative artist burst the seams of the Steinway’s eighty-eight keys and the twelve tones of equal temperament. Transcending the immense pianistic challenges of Claude Debussy’s twelve Études, Tao adventurously plunged into, and harnessed new tools and means of expression.
-Cadenza NYC
...Conrad Tao once again proved that – with his interpretative prowess, fierce individuality and canny fusion of the old and the new – he is an artist whose every step is worth following.
-Seen and Heard International
Conrad Tao is one of the most compelling musicians on the classical scene. A talented pianist and composer, he also has the creative restlessness that is vital to classical music, a combination of curiosity for what lies at the edges of the tradition, and a desire to not just improve his technique but learn new ways to play and make music.
-New York Classical Review
Conrad Tao is an artist with something to say, an artist who plays and composes from a primal energy, a fire in his belly. His career in and beyond the world of classical music is far from over, and we’ll be watching his continued progress at the edge of our seats.
-The Cusp Magazine
…Schumann’s Auf einer Burg, given a fantastic and surprising reading at the Lumatone. He played not just the song but the setting, suggesting not the reverberation within the castle of the song’s setting as well as the cold floors and dusty corners. It was a stunning piece of interpretation, proving the recital-worthiness of his unwieldy contraption.
-Bachtrack
