This concert is a benefit for the Autism Society, San Francisco/Bay Area, and is co-presented with the Ross McKee Foundation
Moving easily from classical to jazz to world music styles as a pianist and composer, Stephen Prutsman continues to explore and seek common ground and relationships in the music of all cultures and languages.
Born in Los Angeles, Stephen first began playing the piano by ear at age 3, before moving on to more formal music studies. In his teens and early 20s he was the keyboard player for several art rock groups including Cerberus and Vysion. He was also during those years a solo jazz pianist playing in many southern California clubs and lounges and was the music arranger for a nationally syndicated televangelist program. He was a proud winner of television’s The Gong Show in 1976.
In the early 90's his career as a classical pianist was launched after receiving the Avery Fisher Career Grant and winning medals at the Tchaikovsky (Moscow) and Queen Elisabeth (Brussels) Piano Competitions. Since then, Stephen has performed the classical concerto repertoire as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and his classical discography includes acclaimed recordings of the Barber and McDowell concerti with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. Solo piano recording projects have included Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, an album of Russian masterworks, and a CD of jazz piano originals, recently released, entitled Passengers.
From 2004 – 2007 Stephen was Artistic Partner with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, where he led concertos from the keyboard, performed in chamber ensembles, conducted works of living composers, developed and arranged collaborations for their Engine 408 series of contemporary and world music, and wrote several new works for the orchestra. From 2009–2012 he was the Artistic Director of the Cartagena International Festival of Music, South America’s largest festival of its kind, programming and curating concerts with themes ranging from Mozart celebrations, to eclectic evenings of folk and popular music of the Americas, to hybrid programs fusing art and dance music of multiple musical dimensions. He was the curator for the acclaimed experimental series Evolution in San Diego and Tijuana and was the founder of the International Chamber Music Festival in El Paso.
As a composer, Stephen’s long collaboration with Grammy Award winning Kronos Quartet has resulted in over 40 arrangements and compositions for them. Other leading artists and ensembles that have performed Stephen’s compositions and arrangements include Leon Fleisher, Dawn Upshaw, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Yo-Yo Ma, Spoleto USA, Emmanuel Ax, and the Silk Road Project. His soundtracks to several great silent films of the 1920s have been performed throughout the world. As a pianist or arranger outside of the classical music world he has collaborated with such diverse personalities as Tom Waits, Rokia Traore, Joshua Redman, Jon Anderson of “YES” and Asha Bhosle.
Passionate for participating in the greater good for families touched by autism, Stephen is involved as an active board member of several local and national Autism advocacy organizations. He co-founded the non-profit Autism Fun Bay Area, whose mission is to promote and create enjoyable Azure events: artistic and recreational environments for people on the spectrum and their families. Azure performances are now presented in many parts of the U.S., Canada and the developing world, which Stephen travels to when possible. His home is in San Francisco.
The Ross McKee Foundation has supported the Bay Area piano community since 1992 through grants, education and a piano competition for young artists. Learn more about our work at rossmckeefoundation.org.
All proceeds from this concert benefit the Autism Society, San Francisco/Bay Area, helping to improve the lives of all affected by autism.