He’s a Boiler Room bunny, he’s recorded with Carl Craig and Derrick May, he’s a cool cat blending classical and electronica and he’s bringing his exhilarating Piano 2.0 show to the Concert Hall tonight as part of The Dublin International Piano Festival 2017
Tristano trained as a classical pianist at the esteemed Juilliard School in Manhattan, and the great city of New York in the late 1990s was where his obsession with electronic music began. His desire to merge his love of classical piano and dance music resulted in the genre-defying debut Not For Piano in 2007, which incorporated covers from the iconic Detroit house and techno scenes including the classic ‘Strings Of Life’ by Derrick May.
“The fact is, Bach can sound great played on synthesisers, too, so why would Carl Craig or Derrick May’s music not sound great on a piano?” remarked Tristano. No stranger to cross-genre collaboration, Tristano has worked with both May and Craig; most recently on the latter’s album Versus. He will perform the solo version of the album highlight ‘The Melody’ in Piano 2.0.
A master of sonic experimentation, combining pianistic perfection and earth-shattering electronic textures, Tristano’s work is continuously evolving and defying the expectations of the music world. Amongst the scores of Johann Sebastian Bach, Frescobaldi, Rameau and others, Tristano adds layers of magical minimalism with the latest production tools, sequencers and synthesisers.
The Sony recording artist possesses the ability to highlight common elements of both Baroque piano styles and electronic music, creating mesmerising work where the two meet. His commitment to innovation makes him one of the most exciting pianists working today. It’s rare to find a classical artist influenced by both Bach and Daft Punk. For him, the classification of music is far too restrictive.
