Ursula Oppens

Pianist Ursula Oppens has played a central role in the creation and performance of contemporary piano music while maintaining a wide-ranging engagement with the classical repertoire. Her collaborations with composers have brought new works by John Adams, Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, Anthony Davis, György Ligeti, and Tobias Picker to audiences around the world.

Oppens’s longstanding association with Frederic Rzewski includes her landmark recording of The People United Will Never Be Defeated! and numerous works written for her. Her discography, recognized with five Grammy nominations, also includes the complete piano music of Carter, Corigliano’s Winging It, and recordings of music by Meredith Monk with Bruce Brubaker and by Messiaen and Debussy with Jerome Lowenthal.

As an orchestral soloist, she has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, and London Philharmonic. Her chamber music partners have included the Arditti, Cassatt, Juilliard, and Pacifica quartets. She also co-founded Speculum Musicae, an ensemble devoted to contemporary music.

Oppens teaches at Mannes and is a Distinguished Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. A graduate of Harvard-Radcliffe, she earned her master’s degree at Juilliard, studying with Rosina Lhevinne and Felix Galimir. Her honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant and an honorary doctorate from New England Conservatory.

Photo: Christian Steiner