Pianist Ursula Oppens has been a long-standing champion of programs that offer new American music juxtaposed with traditional masterworks. An enduring commitment to integrating new music into regular concert life has led Oppens to commission and premiere many compositions. Among these are works by Anthony Braxton, Elliott Carter, Anthony Davis, John Harbison, Julius Hemphill, Tania Leon, György Ligeti, Lois V Vierk, and Charles Wuorinen. Her performance with the Arditti Quartet of the Quintet for Piano and Strings and the Quintet for Piano and Winds by Elliott Carter received high praise from The Sunday Times of London.

A co-founder of Speculum Musicae, she has recorded extensively. Oppens received Grammy nominations for her recording of Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated! and for American Piano Music of Our Time. Oppens’ recent releases include a recording of Elliott Carter’s chamber music with the Arditti Quartet on the Audivis label and Charles Wuorinen’s Piano Quintet on Koch International Classics. Oppens has been presented in recital by leading concert series and has appeared as soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. She has given recitals at Town Hall and Metropolitan Museum of Art in NewYork City; Orchestra Hall in Chicago; and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Click here to read an interview with Oppens about her career as a pianist and champion of contemporary music.