AUDREY ANDRIST

Canadian pianist Audrey Andrist grew up on a farm in rural Saskatchewan.  While still in high school, she commuted three hours one-way for piano lessons with William Moore, himself a former student of famed teachers Rosina Lhevinne and Cécile Genhart.  Ms. Andrist went on to study at the University of Regina on a full scholarship with Moore, and later traveled to New York, where she completed Masters and Doctoral degrees at the Juilliard School with Herbert Stessin. Now a busy soloist and chamber player, Ms. Andrist has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall.  With the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, she and Maestro Mario Bernardi presented the world premiere of a piano concerto written especially for her by Canadian composer Andrew MacDonald.  She is the first prize winner of the San Antonio International Competition, the Mozart International Competition, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition.  She has toured Canada, performing over 20 solo recitals as the winner of the Eckhardt-Gramatté competition, and has recorded for Summit Records, Albany Records, Capstone, CRI, New Dynamic Records, AUR, CBC Radio, and NPR’s “Performance Today.”  For NPR she presented a live broadcast recital with internationally acclaimed violinist Anne Akiko Meyers.  Her recent disc, “The Great Square of Pegasus” (music by Andrew MacDonald with violinist Jasper Wood on the Centrediscs label), won the 2004 East Coast Music Award for Best Classical Album of the Year. 

A truly versatile and adventurous musician, Ms. Andrist has performed and recorded music for synthesizer, harmonium and harpsichord, and has served as orchestral pianist in both Canada and New York.  An ardent exponent of new music, Ms. Andrist has many world premieres to her credit, and has had several works composed for her and the ensembles with which she plays.  She is a member of the Stern/Andrist Duo with her husband, violinist James Stern, and Strata, a trio with Stern and clarinetist Nathan Williams.  She has performed on such prestigious series as the Phillips Collection in Washington, Rising Stars at Ravinia in Chicago, and the People’s Symphony Concerts in New York.  Ms. Andrist is the recipient of grants from the Canada Council and the Saskatchewan Arts Board, and has spent several summers as a resident artist at the Banff Center.  Her many recent engagements include a concert tour of China, performances in Japan, concerto appearances in California, an extensive tour of Quebec for Jeunesses Musicales, and recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, as well as performances in Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Virginia and in Canada.  She currently resides in the Washington, DC area, with her husband and their son, Kenneth.  In Washington, Ms. Andrist has appeared with the 21st Century Consort, the Kennedy Center Chamber Players and the Left Bank Concert Society.