Ursula Oppens

Ursula Oppens is widely recognized as a leading champion of contemporary American piano music, known for her insightful interpretations of both new and traditional repertoire. Her distinguished career includes performances with major orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Milwaukee. Internationally, she has appeared with the Berlin Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Deutsche Symphonie, Scottish BBC, and London Philharmonic. A passionate chamber musician, she has collaborated with the Arditti, Cassatt, JACK, Juilliard, and Pacifica quartets.

Ms. Oppens’s 2015/16 season featured recitals at Northwestern University, the Cutting Edge New Music Festival, Bargemusic, and MusicFest Perugia, as well as performances with the Cassatt Quartet and the International Contemporary Ensemble. She also appeared with the Boston Pops at Tanglewood and performed at the Phillips Collection and Symphony Space.

A five-time Grammy nominee, Ms. Oppens’s acclaimed discography includes the world premiere recording of Rzewski’s “The People United Will Never Be Defeated,” which earned her first Grammy nomination in 1979 and a fifth for her 2015 Cedille Records release. She has also been nominated for recordings of works by John Corigliano, Elliott Carter, and others. Her recent releases include Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen and Debussy’s En blanc et noir with Jerome Lowenthal, Bernard Rands’s piano works with Robert Levin, and “Piano Songs” with Meredith Monk.

Throughout her career, Ms. Oppens has premiered works by leading composers such as John Adams, Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, György Ligeti, Witold Lutoslawski, Meredith Monk, Frederic Rzewski, Joan Tower, Christian Wolff, and many more.

Ms. Oppens is Distinguished Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. She previously served as John Evans Distinguished Professor at Northwestern University and has been a juror for numerous international competitions. She resides in New York City.