Bio(s)

Adam Tendler is a New York based pianist and author, recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and the 2022 Yvar Mikhashoff Prize, and a Yamaha Artist.

SHORT
Grammy-nominated pianist Adam Tendler is a recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, the Yvar Mikhashoff Prize, and "currently the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), a "remarkable and insightful musician" (LA Times), and a "relentlessly adventurous pianist" (Washington Post) "joyfully rocking out at his keyboard" (New York Times). A pioneer of DIY culture in classical music, at age 23 Tendler performed solo recitals in all fifty states as part of a grassroots tour called America 88x50, the subject of his acclaimed memoir, 88x50. He has gone on to become one of classical music's most recognized and celebrated artists, commissioning major works from composers as diverse as Christian Wolff and Devonté Hynes, and appearing as soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and on the main-stages of Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Centre, Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center and BAM. As a recording artist, he is featured on Wild Up's Grammy-nominated third volume of Julius Eastman's music, and has also released  albums of music by Liszt, Robert Palmer, and of his own original work. He recently commissioned 16 new pieces using the entire inheritance left to him by his father after his unexpected death, with works by Laurie Anderson, Nico Muhly and Missy Mazzoli, among others, as part of a program called Inheritances, a New York Times Critic Pick described as "not only a display of contemporary compositional force, but also a true show...emotionally involving...with a sense of true dramatic stakes." Inheritances will appear on a forthcoming album on the New Amsterdam label. As Green-wood Cemetery's 2023/2024 Artist-In-Residence, Tendler has a site-specific installation, Exit Strategy, open through summer 2024. He also recently published his second book, tidepools. Adam Tendler is a Yamaha Artist and serves on the piano faculty of NYU.

MEDIUM
Grammy-nominated pianist Adam Tendler is the recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and the 2022 Yvar Mikhashoff Prize, "currently the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), a "remarkable and insightful musician" (LA Times), and "relentlessly adventurous pianist" (Washington Post) "joyfully rocking out at his keyboard" (New York Times), Adam Tendler is an internationally recognized interpreter of living, modern and classical composers. A pioneer of DIY culture in concert music who has commissioned and premiered major works by Christian Wolff and Devonté Hynes alike, in his early twenties Tendler performed in all fifty United States as part of a grassroots recital tour he called America 88x50, which became the subject of his acclaimed memoir, 88x50, a Kirkus Indie Book of the Month and Lambda Literary Award nominee. He has gone on to become one of classical and contemporary music's most recognized artists, recently appearing as soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and on the mainstages of the Barbican, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and BAM. He has been presented by the NY Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and a host of other leading series and platforms including The Broad Museum, Guggenheim,Liquid Music, The Kitchen, le Poisson Rouge, National Sawdust, KnockdownCenter, Issue Project Room, Da Camera Houston, Other Minds, Maverick Concerts, Roulette, Death of Classical, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and NYC Pride. In 2024, Tendler will perform as soloist with the  Toronto Symphony and. Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House, among others.

Tendler maintains a career as a concert soloist, recording artist, speaker and educator. In 2022, he used the complete inheritance left to him by his father after his unexpected death to commission new works by a composer roster that includes Laurie Anderson, Devonté Hynes, Nico Muhly, Missy Mazzoli, Christopher Cerrone, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Timo Andres and Pamela Z as part of a project called Inheritances, originall produced by Liquid Music. Inheritances has toured throughout the United States, including a NY premiere at the 92Y that was a New York Times Critic Pick, describing it as "not only a display of contemporary compositional force, but also a true show...emotionally involving...with a sense of true dramatic stakes." The Inheritances album will appear on the New Amsterdamn label. Recent recording projects include Robert Palmer: Piano Music on New World Records, Liszt's Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses on the Steinway Label, and a featured appearance on both Wild Up's Grammy-Nominated Vol.3 of its Julius Eastman series, Sō Percussion's recording of Julius Eastman's Stay On It. He has also recorded performances and masterclasses for Edition Peters, and is featured in a new printed edition of John Cage's In a Landscape. Tendler has performed the complete major piano works of Aaron Copland, regularly performs and consults on the music of Julius Eastman, and is a champion and expert in the music of John Cage, collaborating frequently with the John Cage Trust and Edition Peters in presenting Cage’s work internationally. He recently released his second book, tidepools. As Green-wood Cemetery's 2023/2024 Artist-In-Residence, Tendler has a site-specific installation, Exit Strategy, open through summer 2024.
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Adam Tendler is a Yamaha Artist, and serves on the piano faculty at New York University.

QUOTES-ONLY
Grammy-nominated pianist Adam Tendler is the recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists  and the 2022 Yvar Mikhashoff Prize, ad "currently the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene" (Minneapolis Star Tribune). "Joyfully rocking out at his keyboard" (New York Times), Tendler has been called a “remarkable and insightful musician... who made his piano sound like its legs were nowhere near the ground” by the LA Times, a "relentlessly adventurous pianist" by the Washington Post, “a virtuoso pianist” by The Village Voice, a “musical mastermind” by the Houston Press, a “probing and persuasive...quietly charismatic... intrepid... outstanding... maverick pianist” by The New Yorker, a "modern-music evangelist" by Time Out New York, and a "formidable" pianist "with a showman's knack" (San Francisco Chronicle) who "has managed to get behind and underneath the notes, living inside the music and making poetic sense of it all," by The Baltimore Sun, which continued, "if they gave medals for musical bravery, dexterity and perseverance, Adam Tendler would earn them all." Iconic New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini wrote that Tendler played an outdoor performance of John Cage's music "captivatingly," and that "the wondrously subdued sounds silenced many, who listened closely even as street bustle and chirping birds blended in." London critic Frances Wilson described Tendler's memorized performance of Morton Feldman's Palais de Mari as "a concentrated listening experience...meditative, intense and beautifully poised." The new music blog, i care if you listen described a performance at The Kitchen in New York City as "virtuosic... eerie... agonizing... distressing." One audience member recently raved, "this was the most offensive musical performance I have experienced in my sixty years  of listening to music. Please take me off your emailing list. The pianist appeared to be quite competent, although he hinted that he enjoyed making the audience suffer."  

Adam Tendler is currently the Artist in Residence at Green-wood Cemetery.

Adam Tendler is a Yamaha Artist.

LONG
Grammy-nominated pianist Adam Tendler is the recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and Yvar Mikhashoff Prize, Adam Tendler has been called "currently the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), a "relentlessly adventurous pianist" by the Washington Post, a “remarkable and insightful musician...who made his piano sound like its legs were nowhere near the ground” by the LA Times, “a virtuoso pianist” by The Village Voice, "joyfully rocking out at his keyboard" (New York Times). He has been called a“musical mastermind” by the Houston Press, a “probing and persuasive...quietly charismatic... intrepid... outstanding... maverick pianist” by The New Yorker, a "modern-music evangelist" by Time Out New York, and a "formidable" pianist "with a showman's knack" (San Francisco Chronicle) who "has managed to get behind and underneath the notes, living inside the music and making poetic sense of it all," by The Baltimore Sun, who continued, "if they gave medals for musical bravery, dexterity and perseverance, Adam Tendler would earn them all."

A pioneer of DIY culture in concert music who has commissioned and premiered major works by Christian Wolff and Devonté Hynes alike. At age 23 Tendler performed in all fifty United States as part of a grassroots recital tour he called America 88x50. Now recognized as a leading interpreter of American music, Tendler has commissioned major works from the likes of Christian Wolff and Devonté Hynes alike, performed solo recitals in all fifty United States, including solo engagements at the Barbican (London), Carnegie Hall, BAM, Little Island, Lincoln Center, San Francisco Symphony / SoundBox, (le) Poisson Rouge, The Kitchen, Knockdown Center, Green-Wood Cemetery, Da Camera Houston, Venice Biennale, The Met Brauer, Knockdown Center, Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), The Broad Museum, Symphony Space, National Sawdust, Issue Project Room, Roulette, Art Institute of Chicago, 92nd Street Y, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Joyce Theatre, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Columbia University, The Fisher Center at Bard College, New York’s Sheen Center, Princeton University, New York University, Bennington College, Kenyon College, Boston Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Portland State University, University of Nebraska, University of Alaska and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, as well as artistic landmarks like Houston's Rothko Chapel, The Maverick Concert Hall, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Rubin Museum, Museum of the Moving Image, Joe’s Pub, Stonewall Inn, and James Turrell's Skypace in Sarasota, where he was the space's first musical performer.

In 2022, Tendler used the complete inheritance left to him by his father to commission 16  works composers including Laurie Anderson, Nico Muhly and Missy Mazzoli as part of a project called Inheritances, a New York Times Critic Pick, which described the 92Y premiere as "not only a display of contemporary compositional force, but also a true show...emotionally involving...with a sense of true dramatic stakes." The Inheritances album will appear on the New Amsterdamn label.

Tendler’s association with the work of John Cage includes three sold-out recitals at the Rubin Museum in New York City (a memorized performance of the complete Sonatas and Interludes, a realization of Cage’s 10,000 Things, and Cage's Concert for piano and orchestra), a featured recital in the “Cage100” festival at Symphony Space, listed by New York Magazine as one of the Top 10 Classical Music Events of Cage's centenary, a Cage recital at the Maverick Theatre in Woodstock NY, where 4’33” had its premiere, as well as recordings and masterclasses of the composer’s work for Edition Peters, Cage’s sole publisher. Tendler curated and performed in a three-part retrospective of Cage and his circle's music at the Broad Museum in Los Angeles over three months in 2018.

Tendler’s memoir, 88x50, about the year he performed solo recitals in all fifty states, was a 2014 Kirkus Indie Book of the Month and Lambda Literary Award Nominee. He also recorded an audio version of the memoir. He maintains the blog, The Dissonant States, and his second book, tidepools, saw its release in December 2018.

As a concert programmer, Tendler has organized a number of happenings in New York and beyond that focus on community building in the classical music community, including 24-pianist performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, and the collaborative concert, A Very George Crumb Christmas.
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He has recorded the music of Julius Eastman, including the Grammy-nominated third volume of Wild Up's anthology of the composer's work, in which he was a featured performed. Tendler has also recorded music by J.S. Bach, CPE Bach, Amy Beach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, John Cage, George Crumb, Edvard Grieg, Charles Griffes, Lou Harrison, Alan Hovhaness, Edward MacDowell, Erik Satie, as well as the premiere recording of Edward T. Cone’s 21 Little Preludes. He recently released Liszt's Harmonie Poétiques et Religieuses on the Steinway label, Robert Palmer: Piano Music on New World Records, and published his second book, tidepools.

A graduate of Indiana University, Tendler lives in New York City and, in addition to guest lectures at New School, Manhattan School of Music, Princeton University, Bennington College, Kenyon College, Boston Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Portland State University, University of Nebraska, University of Alaska and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, he serves on the piano faculty of New York University (NYU), Special Music School / Lucy Moses, and Third Street Music School Settlement, the country’s first community music school, which provides tuition assistance to over 75% of its student body.

Adam Tendler is currently the Artist in Residence at Green-wood Cemetery, and his installation, EXIT STRATEGY, is on view throughout the summer of 2024.

Adam Tendler is a Yamaha Artist.

ALTERNATIVE
Adam Tendler has played the piano since the age of 6, but still sometimes can’t believe the piano is a thing—like, this big machine that makes a very particular sound that people take quite seriously, as if that sound is important and essential, eternal, timeless and primordial, like wind, waves, or volcano fire. But really it’s an accumulation of taste and preference, the sound of a piano, and a rather modern invention, right? So he thinks about that a lot. He also often can’t believe he plays the piano, particularly before a concert, and sometimes gets lost in the thought that Bach and Brahms and so many other composers never once heard the sound of, say, an airplane.