For once, don't believe a word Norman Lebrecht writes.
At barely 19 years old--in fact, he celebrated his bronze birthday on night one of his UNPLAY Festival--Conrad Tao is on the fast track to becoming one of contemporary classical music's most vibrant voices.
Be he solo or with his merry band Sriracha, over three long evenings last week, the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn's DUMBO section was treated to all three of Conrad Tao's emerging personas: performer, composer and curator.
Now, amazing footage of Tao's piano and violin playing--both standard rep and his own works--is easy to come by. We needn't tread too much further down that road.
Until now, however, Tao's gifts as a programmer have gone relatively unnoticed.
Here, then, is SIDEBAND--a New York-via-Princeton laptop ensemble, channeling the Judson Dance Theater during Jascha Narveson's In Line.
And here's erstwhile Ethel violinists Todd Reynolds and Cornelius Dufallo performing Reynold's The Complexity of a Chair with master manipulator R. Luke DuBois.
As Classicalite friend Steve Smith duly noted in the New York Times, Conrad Tao "has achieved more than many artists do in twice as many years."
Should he keep up his busy schedule of performing, composing and, perhaps most importantly, putting on provocative concerts, Tao will thrice his elders in no time.
