Twenty-six-year-old American pianist Jonathan Biss represents the third generation in a family of professional musicians. Biss began his piano studies at age six and studied at Indiana University and at The Curtis Institute of Music with Leon Fleisher.

Highlights of Biss 2007-08 season included debuts with five North American orchestras, including the Cleveland and Dallas symphonies, and as many European orchestras including the Birmingham City Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic. He also made return appearances with the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, among others. In April 2006, EMI Classics signed Biss to a two-year exclusive contract. His first CD under this contract—an all-Schumann recital—was released to widespread praise and reached No. 5 on the classical charts.

Biss, named the winner of the Leonard Bernstein Award at the 2005 Schleswig-Holstein Festival, has won numerous other awards, including the 2002 Gilmore Young Artist Award, Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He was an artist-in-residence on NPR’s “Performance Today” and is the first American chosen to participate in the BBC’s New Generation Artist program.

photo Jimmy Katz