SoundScore Artist Profile
Lisa Moore’s playing has been singled out by The New York Times for its “life and freshness” and “fragility and tenderness”. Her performances combine music and theatre with expressive and emotional power – whether in the delivery of the simplest song, a solo recital, or a fiendish chamber score. Described as ‘the wonderfully lyrical pianist’ in TimeOut New York and ‘visionary’ in the The New Yorker, Pitchfork claims “she’s the best kind of contemporary classical musician, one so fearsomely game that she inspires composers to offer her their most wildly unplayable ideas”.
This multi-faceted pianist and avid collaborator won the silver medal in the 1981 Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition. Based in New York City since 1985, she has released 10 solo discs, ranging from Leoš Janáček to Philip Glass, and more than thirty collaborative discs (on labels: Cantaloupe, Tall Poppies, Orange Mountain, Irreverence Group Music, Bandcamp, Sony, Nonesuch, DG, BMG, New World, ABC Classics, Albany, New Albion, Starkland, Harmonia Mundi). Her 2016 disc The Stone People – featuring the music of John Luther Adams, Martin Bresnick, Missy Mazzoli, Kate Moore, Frederic Rzewski, and Julia Wolfe – was selected by The New York Times Top Classical Albums 2016 and Naxos Critics’ Choice 2017. Moore’s recording of Ishi’s Song by Martin Bresnick (Stone People CD) was ranked no.4 in the 2020 Naxos Best of Indie Classical. Her 2015 collaborative Steve Reich Music for Eighteen Musicians with Ensemble Signal made The New York Times Top Classical Albums list. Gramophone writes of her solo 2015 Mad Rush Philip Glass disc “what becomes abundantly clear from listening to almost any bar on this recording is Moore’s highly developed, intuitive and nuanced approach to this music, one which has been allowed to evolve and refine over a number of years”.
Lisa was the founding pianist for the Bang On A Can All-Stars from 1992-2008 and, with them, the winner of Musical America’s 2005 Ensemble of the Year award. Given a special passion for the music of our time she has worked with over 200 composers – including Iannis Xenakis, Elliot Carter, Philip Glass, Steve Reich,Meredith Monk, Frederic Rzewski, Ornette Coleman, Jonny Greenwood, David Lang, Don Byron, Martin Bresnick, Elena Kats-Chernin, Paul Grabowski, Kate Neal, Thurston Moore, Missy Mazzoli, Hannah Lash, and Julia Wolfe.
Enjoying diverse collaborative projects throughout the globe, Lisa Moore has performed with a large range of musicians, ensembles and artists – the London Sinfonietta, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Steve Reich Ensemble, New York City Ballet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the American Composers Orchestra. She is a member of Grand Band, Ensemble Signal, Tempus Duo, TwoSense, and the Paul Dresher Double Duo.
Lisa Moore has performed concertos with the London Sinfonietta, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Wesleyan University Orchestra with Sumarsam Gamelan, Albany Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Tasmania Symphony, La Jolla Symphony, Thai National Orchestra, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi, Monash Performing Arts Orchestra, Clocked Out, and the Queensland Philharmonic. She has performed under the batons of David Robertson, Leonard Bernstein, Bradley Lubman, Brett Dean, Richard Mills, Reinbert de Leeuw, Pierre Boulez, Jorge Mester, Benjamin Northey, Angel Gil-Ordonez, Steven Schick, and Edo de Waart.
Performing on some of the world’s great stages – La Scala, the Musikverein, the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, and the Royal Albert Hall — Lisa’s festival guest appearances include Lincoln Center, BAM Next Wave, Big Ears, Banff, Crash Dublin, Vienna, Graz, Trondheim, Rome, Venice, Palermo, Turin, Aspen, Tanglewood, Gilmore, Chautauqua, Huddersfield, Paris d’Automne, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, BBC Proms, Southbank, Uzbekistan, Leningrad, Moscow, Lithuania, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne Metropolis, Israel and Warsaw.
Lisa Moore has also enjoyed artistic curation. She produced Australia’s Canberra International Music Festival 2008 Sounds Alive series, importing artists from around the world for 10 days of events at the versatile Street Theatre.
Born in Australia, Lisa grew up in Canberra, London and Sydney. She began piano at age 6 and studied formally at the Sydney Conservatorium, University of Illinois, Eastman School of Music, SUNY Stonybrook, and in Paris with Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen. Based in New York City Lisa teaches at Yale-Norfolk Festival New Music Workshop and is a regular guest at the Australian Academy of Music, Melbourne.
Lisa Moore is a Steinway artist. For more Moore please visit www.lisamoore.org