Unconventional is the term often used to describe classical pianist Awadagin (ah wah DAH jin) Pratt. He sports dreadlocks, nixes tux and tails, and doesn’t fit the stereotypical image of a classical musician. Time called his music “classical artistry in an unconventional key.” People said he’s “classical but not conventional.” Newsweek said “The piano man’s not in a band: in every way, Awadagin Pratt defies stereotype.”
Pratt’s goal is to break barriers, to make music accessible to all listeners. If down-dressing and dreadlocks help accomplish that, so be it. “Onstage I’m serious but not stuffy,” Pratt said. Appearances matter. Mainstream magazines print articles about this classical pianist. That’s because Awadagin’s music is awesome.
Considered a superstar in the classical world, Pratt has performed worldwide, including at the White House for President Clinton twice and for First Lady Michelle Obama, who hosted student workshops there. President Obama has attended his concerts. Pratt has performed on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and Sesame Street and was a featured soloist on PBS’s “Live from the Kennedy Center: A Salute to Slava.”
Associate Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, Pratt first garnered attention when he won the Naumburg International Piano Competition and was subsequently named one of the “50 Leaders of Tomorrow” by Ebony in 1992. He has lived up to the prophecy, organizing the Pratt Foundation in 1997 in memory of his father, a nuclear physicist from Sierra Leone who loved classical music. The foundation awards scholarships based on talent and financial need to students in the Illinois Wesleyan University area. “We gave scholarships to 20 kids last year,” Pratt said. “There’s no staff. The income goes to kids. The program is not designed to create the next Mozart, but helps the kids remain in touch with music throughout their lives.”
Pratt is passionate about making music accessible through outreach programs. He is equally passionate about music. His performances are emotionally charged, intensely moving explorations of the composer’s work. “It’s like an airliner taking off…His playing is so fresh, so alive, and he can really make a piece go wild,” said Naumburg juror Joseph Bloch, quoted in Jo Sheppard’s interview with Awadagin Pratt for a Harrisburg, Pa. performance.
In conjunction with cellist and friend Zuill Bailey, Pratt released his sixth CD, Brahms Works for Cello and Piano, this year. “I’m proud of this album,” Pratt said. He looks for a conduit between the composer’s feelings and the listener’s reactions, and he must have found it since his new CD was number three on the classical charts last week. Writing about the new release in Listen magazine, Donald Rosenberg reported, “After an extended take that riveted everyone in the control booth, Pratt earned praise from recording engineer Bruce Leek: ‘Awadagin, awesome. You don’t take any prisoners.’”
Pratt is looking forward to his trip to Juneau. When he performed here before, he was impressed. “I loved the force of nature in Alaska and in Hawaii,” he said. Being here made him realize he wanted to move somewhere—eventually New Mexico—which had the “power of earth that Hawaii and Alaska had.”
Pratt will be working with students at all ages and all levels in the Classical Workshops at the University of Alaska Southeast Egan Classroom Wing on Tuesday, May 17, 7-9 p.m. He performs Totally Piano, playing music by Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, and Bach at Northern Light United Church on Thursday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. with a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m.
