As far as youthful talent goes, many, many pale in comparison to Conrad Tao: pianist, composer, festival entrepreneur, major label recording artist and, most recently, composer for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
All this, and he's still a mere 20-years-old.
In addition to his artist-in-residence gig down in Dallas, Tao will be opening the New York Youth Symphony's season on November 23 at Carnegie Hall.
Heralded by major news outlets, named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts by the White House Commission and awarded a YoungArts gold medal by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, it seems there's little more than Conrad can accomplish at such a young age, right?
Wrong. He was also named a Gilmore Young Artist, as well as that Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Over-achiever or not, Conrad Tao has some serious talent, so catch him in New York City before he's off traipsing the rest of the musical planet.
If you need any more convincing, here he is via the New York Times' "In Performance" section playing the final movement of Prokofiev's Piano Sonata, No. 7. It's not to be missed.
After you listen to that, you won't be surprised at all how brilliant his Beethoven with Slatkin and Detroit is.
