Our 2011/2012 Season
October 23, 2011
Carter Brey, cello,
Christopher O’Riley, piano
Carter Brey is the Principal Cellist of the New York Philharmonic since 1996. He rose to international attention in 1981 as a Rostropovich International Cello Competition prizewinner. He has won the Gregor Piatigorsky Memorial Prize, Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Young Concert Artists’ Michaels Award, as well as other honors. He was the first musician to win the Arts Council of America’s Performing Arts Prize, and has performed as soloist with many of America’s major symphony orchestras. His chamber music career is equally distinguished, as he has made regular appearances with the Tokyo and Emerson string quartets, among others. Mr. Brey studied with Laurence Lesser and Stephen Kates at the Peabody Institute, and with Aldo Parisot at Yale University, as a Houpt Scholar and a Wardwell Fellow. He is presenting an ongoing series of duo recitals with pianist Christopher O’Riley. He lives in New York City with his wife Ilaria, and their two children.
Christopher O'Riley enjoys a thriving concert career. His broad repertoire ranges from English Renaissance music and French Baroque to works of today's leading composers, even to the tango. He plays many of his own arrangements and transcriptions, performing in major American cities, and in many cultural capitals worldwide. His honors include top prizes at the Van Cliburn, Leeds, Busoni and Montreal competitions, as well as an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Prize. As an emerging young pianist, he enjoyed the sponsorship of the Young Concert Artists, the Pro Musicis Foundation and the Xerox/Affiliate Artists Program. Mr. O'Riley is a recipient of an Artist's Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Russell Sherman. In addition, he hosts a nationally distributed radio program for Public Radio International, "From the Top," which showcases the vibrant performances and personalities of young musicians.