# Ursula Oppens

Ursula Oppens (born February 2, 1944) is an American classical concert pianist and educator. She has received five Grammy Award nominations.

## Biography

Ursula Oppens was born on February 2, 1944, in New York City into a highly musical family from Jewish parents who had fled Prague in 1938. She obtained a high school diploma from the Brearley School (1961) a Bachelor of Arts degree (cum laude) from Radcliffe College (1965) and an M.S. degree from the Juilliard School (1967). She began early piano studies with her mother Edith Oppens, a noted piano pedagogue, and went on to study with American pianist Leonard Shure. At Juilliard she studied with Rosina Lhévinne and Felix Galimir. In 1969 Oppens won the Gold Medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition and the Young Concert Artists competition, plus an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1976. She served as a Founding Member of the Speculum Musicae from 1971 to 1982. From 1994 until 2008 Oppens was on the summer faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center. She held the position of Distinguished Professor of Music at Northwestern University from 1994 to 2008, and in 2008 went on to take up a new post as Distinguished Professor of Music at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. Oppens is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

## Work

Ursula Oppens is renowned for her commissioning and championship of the music of American composers who were born predominantly in the early decades of the 20th century. The following is a list of composers who have been commissioned by Oppens or who have written works for her: Carla Bley, William Bolcom, Anthony Braxton, Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, Anthony Davis, John Harbison, Julius Hemphill, M. William Karlins, Bun-Ching Lam, Tania León, Peter Lieberson, Patricia Morehead, Conlon Nancarrow, Tobias Picker, Frederic Rzewski, Allen Shawn, Alvin Singleton, Richard Teitelbaum, Francis Thorne, Joan Tower, Lois V Vierk, Amy Williams, Christian Wolff, Amnon Wolman, and Charles Wuorinen. Often such composers have credited Oppens, an acclaimed pianist in the traditional repertory, with being an invaluable pianistic influence in the creation of their music. Oppens's command of contemporary idioms has also extended to the works of such European masters as Luciano Berio, Gyorgy Ligeti, and Witold Lutoslawski, whose Piano Concerto was given its Chicago Symphony premiere by Oppens under the baton of Erich Leinsdorf in 1994.

## Recordings

Oppens's discography includes a recording on Vanguard of Frederic Rzewski's "The People United Will Never Be Defeated" and a version on American Piano Music of Our Time of Elliott Carter's Night Fantasies. Overall, Oppens's body of recordings—which has received four Grammy nominations to date—forms a survey of American contemporary piano music which, in addition to the aforementioned listings, also includes the complete piano music of Elliott Carter and John Corigliano, and compositions by John Adams, Julius Hemphill, Conlon Nancarrow and Tobias Picker, among others. Oppens has also set to disc a group of Beethoven piano sonatas and piano pieces for the Music & Arts label. To date Oppens has recorded for the following labels: Cedille, Wergo, Music & Arts, Vanguard Classics, Mode, Montaigne, CRI, Nuevo Era, Naxos, Angel, New World, Arte Nova, Nonesuch, Albany Records, Mark Masters, Summit, Boosey & Hawkes, New World, DeNote, Watt Works, and Bridge.

## Complete discography

SOLO RECORDINGS:
| Title | Description | Label |
| Rzewski: The People United Will Never be Defeated | | Cedille 90000 158* |
| Oppens Plays Carter: Elliott Carter at 100 | | Cedille CD 90000 108* |
| "Winging It": Piano Music of John Corigliano | | Cedille CD 90000 123* |
| Keys to the City: Works for Piano by Tobias Picker | | Wergo CD 66952 |
| Carnegie Hall Millennium Piano Book | Works by Elliott Carter, Frederic Rzewski, John Harbison, Chen Yi, Wolfgang Rihm, Louis Andriessen, Milton Babbitt, Tan Dun, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and C. Hannibal | Boosey & Hawkes |
| American Piano Music of Our Time Volume I | Elliott Carter Night Fantasies John Adams Phrygian Gates William Bolcom The Dead Moth Tango Lukas Foss The Curriculum Vitae Tango Julius Hemphill Parchment David Jaggard Tango Conlon Nancarrow Tango? Michael Sahl Tango From Exiles’ Café | Music & Arts CD 862* |
| American Piano Music of Our Time Volume II | Anthony Davis Middle Passage John Harbison Piano Sonata No. 1 Conlon Nancarrow Two Canons for Ursula Tobias Picker Old and Lost Rivers Frederic Rzewski Mayn Yingele Charles Wuorinen The Blue Bamboula | Music & Arts CD 862 |
| Beethoven | Fantasy in G minor, Op. 77 Sonata No. 11, B-flat Major, Op. 22 Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" | Music & Arts CD 734 |
| Frederic Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated | | Vanguard Classics OVC 8056* |
** Grammy Nomination
OTHER SOLO RECORDINGS:
| Composer | Work(s) | Label |
| Elliott Carter | Retrouvailles | Quintets and Voices, Mode 128 |
| Elliott Carter | 90+ Duo for Violin and Piano (Irvine Arditti) Sonata for Cello and Piano (Rohan de Saram) | Montaigne MO 78 2091** |
| Stephen Demski | Tender Buttons/Pterodactyl | Music from Dartmouth 0200 |
| Peter Lieberson | Fantaisie | CRI S-350 |
| Otto Luening | Sonata for Piano | CRI SD334 |
| Tobias Picker | When Soft Voices Die | CRI SD427 |
| Robert Schumann | Carnaval, Opus 9 (Concorsopianistico internazionale "Ferruccio Busoni" Bolzano 30 Anni di Storia pianistica) (Commemorative recording) | Nuevo Era 5718-DM |
| Joan Tower | Holding a Daisy Or Like a...an Engine | Naxos 8.559215 |
| Christian Wolff | Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida | Music from Dartmouth 0200 |
*** Gramophone Magazine 1999 Awards Issue: Voted best 20th-Century Chamber Music Recording
RECORDINGS WITH ORCHESTRA:
| Composer | Work | Symphony, Conductor | Label |
| John Adams | Grand Pianola Music | Solisti New York, Feinberg, Wilson | Angel DS3735 |
| Elliott Carter | Piano Concerto | Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Gielen | Arte Nova 74321-27773 |
| Elliott Carter | Piano Concerto | Sudwestfunk Orchester, Gielen | Arte Nova 74321-27773 |
| Joseph Schwantner | Distant Runes & Incantations | St. Louis Symphony, Slatkin | Nonesuch 79143 |
| Allen Shawn | Piano Concerto | Albany Symphony, Allen Miller | Albany Records, Troy 441 |
| Igor Stravinsky | Concerto for Piano and Winds | University of Florida Wind Symphony | Mark Masters |
| Igor Stravinsky | Concerto for Piano and Winds | Symphonic Wind Ensemble of Northwestern University, Thompson | Summit |
| Francis Thorne | Piano Concerto No. 3 | New Orchestra of Westchester, Dunkel | New World |
| Joan Tower | Rapids | UW Madison Symphony Orchestra, Becker | UW-Madison School of Music 193156902-9 |
| Joan Tower | Piano Concerto | Louisville Symphony, Silverstein | DeNote Records DND 1016 |
CHAMBER MUSIC RECORDINGS:
| Composer | Work(s) | Collaborator(s) | Label |
| Laura Kaminsky | Fantasy: Oppens Plays Kaminsky | Jerome Lowenthal, Jeffery Meyer, Cassatt String Quartet | Cedille CDR 90000 202 |
| L. Van Beethoven | Grosse Fuge, Op. 134 | Paul Jacobs | Nonesuch 79061 |
| Carla Bley | 3/4 | Various | Watt Works 3 |
| Johannes Brahms | Sonatas, Op. 120, No. 1 & 2, Scherzo in C Minor | Barbara Westphal | Bridge BCD 9021 |
| Anthony Braxton | For Two Pianos | Frederic Rzewski | Arista Freedom |
| Elliott Carter | Quintets and Voices, Quintet for Piano and Strings, Quintet for Winds and Piano | Arditti Quartet, Taylor, Neidich, Morelli, Purvis | Mode 128 |
| Elliott Carter | A Mirror On Which To Dwell | Speculum Musicae | CBS M35171 |
| Company | Epiphany | Derek Bailey and others | Incus 46-47 |
| Alvin Curran | Era Ora, For Cornelius | Frederic Rzewski | New Albion 011 |
| Peter Maxwell Davies | Sonata for Trumpet and Piano | Gerard Schwarz | Nonesuch 0298 |
| Claude Debussy | (Ravel) Nocturnes (Commemorative Recording) | Aki Takahashi | Music Today WWCC7107-10 |
| Claude Debussy | En blanc et noir | Jerome Lowenthal | CDR 90000 119 |
| Morton Feldman | Spring of Chosroes | Paul Zukovsky | CP2 102 |
| Irving Fine | Sonata for Violin and Piano | Ida Kavafian | Bridge 9123 |
| John Harbison | The Flower-Fed Buffaloes | Speculum Musicae | Nonesuch 71366 |
| | Variations | R. Harbison, D. Satz | Northeastern NR23¬0CD |
| Julius Hemphill | One Atmosphere | | Tzadik 7090 |
| David Lang | Illumination Rounds | Rolf Schulte | CRI CD 625 |
| Olivier Messiaen | Visions de L’Amen | Jerome Lowenthal | CDR90000 119 |
| Donald Martino | Notturno | Speculum Musicae | Nonesuch 71300 |
| W.A. Mozart | Fantasia for a Musical Clock K. 608 (trans. Busoni) | Paul Jacobs | Nonesuch 79061 |
| Tobias Picker | Sextet No. 3 | Speculum Musicae | CRI 427 |
| Frederic Rzewski | Night Crossing with Fisherman Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues | Frederic Rzewski | Music & Arts CD 988 |
| Carl Ruggles | Vox Clamans in Deserto | Speculum Musicae | CBS |
| Arthur Schnabel | Sonata for Violin & Piano | Zukovsky | CP2 102 |
| Arnold Schoenberg | Cabaret Songs; Songs, Opus 2; Book of The Hanging Gardens | Phyllis Bryn-Julson | Music & Arts CD650 |
| Allen Shawn | Sextet | Aspen Wind Quintet | Northeastern NR 2580 |
| Igor Stravinsky | The Four Hand Petrouchka | Paul Jacobs | Nonesuch 79038 |
| Igor Stravinsky | Music for Two Pianos and Piano Four Hands | Paul Jacobs | Nonesuch H71347 |
| Richard Wilson | Concert Piece for Violin and Piano | Rolf Schulte | CRI CD 602 |
| Amnon Wolman | Thomas and Beulah | Cynthia Hayman, soprano, Wolman, electronics | Innova 559 |
| Charles Wuorinen | Speculum Speculi | Speculum Musicae | Nonesuch 71300 |
| Charles Wuorinen | Quintet | C. Macomber, C. Zori, S. St. Johns, F. Sherry | Koch 37410-2H1 |
| Vyautas Bacevičius | Septime Mot, opus 75 | Gabrielius Alekna | Toccata Classics 0134 |
| Stefan Wolpe | Songs: The Angel, Two Songs for Baritone, Songs of the Jewish Pioneers | Rebecca Jo Loeb, Matt Boehler | Bridge 9308 |
| Richard Strauss | Andante for Horn and Piano | William Barnewitz | AV 86A AV 2126 |
| W.A. Mozart | Quintet for Piano and Winds K 452 | Margaret Butler, Todd Levy Ted Soluri, William Barnewitz | AV 86A |
| Johannes Brahms | Wiegenlied opus 49 no. 4 4 (arr. Barnewitrz) | William Barnewitz | AV 86A |

## Prizes and honors

* Grammy nomination, 2011 Winging It: The Piano Music of John Corigliano
* Grammy nomination 2009 Oppens Plays Carter
* Alumna Recognition Award, Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study 2005
* Letter of Distinction, American Music Center 2002
* Convention Artist, MTNA 2000
* Paul Fromm Award-University of Chicago 1998
* Grammy nomination 1990 American Piano Music of Our Time
* Phi Beta Kappa (honorary) 1990
* Grammy nomination 1980 Frederic Rzewski, The People United Will Never Be Defeated
* Record World Award 1979
* Avery Fisher Career Grant 1976
* Martha Baird Rockefeller Grant 1970
* Gold Medal Busoni International Piano Competition, 1969
* Diploma d'onore Accademia Chigiana 1969
* Josef Lhévinne Scholarship 1966
* National Merit Scholarship 1961