Audrey Andrist, Canadian pianist, grew up on a farm in rural Saskatchewan. While still in high school, she commuted three hours one-way for piano lessons with William Moore, himself a former student of famed teachers Rosina Lhevinne and Cecile Genhart. Ms. Andrist went on to study at the University of Regina on a full scholarship with Moore, and later traveled to New York, where she completed Masters and Doctoral degrees at the Juilliard School with Herbert Stessin. Now a busy soloist and chamber player, Ms. Andrist has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall. With the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, she and Maestro Mario Bernardi presented the world premiere of a piano concerto written especially for her by Canadian composer Andrew MacDonald. She is the first prize winner of the San Antonio International Competition, the Mozart International Competition, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition. She has toured Canada, performing over 20 solo recitals as the winner of the Eckhardt-Gramatt� competition, and has recorded for Summit Records, Albany Records, Capstone, CRI, Arizona University Recordings, CBC Radio, and NPR's "Performance Today". For NPR she presented a live broadcast recital with internationally acclaimed violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. Her most recent disc, "The Great Square of Pegasus" (music by Andrew MacDonald with violinist Jasper Wood on the Centrediscs label), won the 2004 East Coast Music Award for Best Classical Album of the Year.
A truly versatile and adventurous musician, Ms. Andrist has performed and recorded
music for synthesizer, harmonium and harpsichord, and has served as orchestral pianist
in both Canada and New York. An ardent exponent of new music, Ms. Andrist has many
world premieres to her credit, and has had several works composed for her and the
ensembles with which she plays. She is a member of the Stern/Andrist Duo with her
husband, violinist James Stern, and Strata, a trio with Stern and clarinetist Nathan
Williams. She has performed on such prestigious series as the Phillips Collection
in Washington, Rising Stars at Ravinia in Chicago, and the People's Symphony Concerts
in New York. Ms. Andrist is the recipient of grants from the Canada Council and the
Saskatchewan Arts Board, and has spent several summers as a resident artist at the
Banff Center. Her many recent engagements include a concert tour of China, concerto
appearances in California, and an extensive tour of Quebec for Jeunesses Musicales.
Highlights of Ms. Andrist's 2005-2006 season include recitals in Tokyo, Japan, Washington,
DC, New York, California, Michigan and Virginia. She currently resides in the Washington,
DC area, with her husband and their son, Kenneth. In Washington, Ms. Andrist has
appeared with the 21st Century Consort, the Kennedy Center Chamber Players and the
Left Bank Concert Society.
"Andrist deployed crisp technique, ample power
and an earnest rhetoric that made every phrase hit home." - San Antonio Express-News
"Andrist
put together a program of more than usual interest,...a tribute to both her imagination
and musical intuition." - Ottawa Citizen
"Her prodigious technique
was evident throughout the performance...Andrist and the orchestra played their hearts
out." - Georgia Straight
"Ms. Andrist shapes the music with subtle
dynamic touches, creates dramatic moments and plays with wonderful fluency and poise."
- Montreal Gazette
"Ms. Andrist was simply magnificent. Working with
sensitivity, she marched through the work with genuine warmth and passion."
- Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
"A stunning musician with incredible
dexterity." - San Francisco Classical Voice