Jacksonville Symphony to Perform Conrad Tao World Premiere 

Tao will be joining the symphony as the soloist in his own piano concerto “Clang and Shudder"

Following his performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Jacksonville Symphony in 2024, pianist and composer Conrad Tao is returning as Artist-in-Residence to premiere his new concerto. 

Commissioned by the Jacksonville Symphony, Tao’s Clang and Shudder will be played alongside Debussy’s Nocturnes and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring at the Jacoby Symphony Hall on April 4 and 5, 2025. 

As the solo pianist, Tao will be performing with the Symphony’s Music Director, Courtney Lewis, and the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus Musicians. 

“When dreaming up this new piano concerto, I was hearing the messy, spirited banging of, say, a toddler at a piano bench. I wanted to find a lyricism in this pre-consciousness,” Tao said. “I was inspired by the almost-mythical world of white keys, of ‘C Major,’ this world that is so iconic to the piano specifically. I wanted to celebrate the sound of the instrument, treating the piano as the enormous resonating chamber it is, drawing attention to its ringing tones beyond just what keys are struck.

“‘Wildness’ is the word I kept coming back to. I realized while working on this piece that this is important to me—preserving and making space for our unkempt excess, our messiness, our animal nature. In this concerto, the orchestra emerges out of the piano sound, responds, suggests, and questions. The music clangs, shudders, howls, breathes, sings.” 

Tao’s upcoming projects include return engagements with the San Francisco Symphony, Dallas Symphony, St Louis Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony, plus appearances at the Indianapolis Symphony’s opening Gala, Seoul Philharmonic, and NDR Hannover. 

Additionally, he continues his collaboration with the award-winning dancer Caleb Teicher on a U.S. tour. Among Tao’s many accolades are the Avery Fisher Career Grant and being named a Gilmore Young Artist. 

“It is always really exciting to play a new piece at any point but it’s a particular treat to be doing it with the composer actually playing the solo part,” Lewis said in an interview. “Conrad and I have [collaborated on a lot now] and he’s been to the Jacksonville Symphony many times so there’s an element of partnership … which is very exciting to share with the audience [and] in a program [including] two really iconic masterpieces.”

These Jacksonville Symphony concerts are part of the Greta Challen Artist, Florida Blue Classical, and the David M. Hicks Piano Series. To attend, click here.