About this Artist
Grammy-nominated pianist John Novacek regularly tours the Americas, Europe and Asia as both soloist and chamber musician. The current season includes concerto performances with the Mexico City Philharmonic, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Springfield (MA) Symphony Orchestra, National Academy Orchestra of Canada, Traverse (MI) Symphony Orchestra, Vista Philharmonic (Groton, MA), Anderson (IN) Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the orchestras of Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Festival Mozaic and the Mendocino Music Festival. Frequent performance venues include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s David Geffen and Alice Tully Halls, Kennedy Center, Chicago’s Symphony Center, Disney Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, London’s Wigmore Hall and Barbican, and Tokyo’s Suntory, Opera City, and Bunkamura Halls.
Novacek is a frequent guest artist at festivals, having participated in Mostly Mozart, Aspen, Great Lakes, SummerFest La Jolla, Cape Cod, Caramoor, Mimir, Ravinia, Seattle, Wolf Trap; Scotia, Toronto Summer Music, Ottawa Chamberfest, SweetWater and Festival of the Sound (Canada); BBC Proms (England); Braunschweig (Germany); Lucerne, Menuhin Gstaad, and Verbier (Switzerland); Sorrento (Italy); Serenates d’Estiu (Mallorca, Spain); and Stavanger (Norway). A frequent presence on radio, Novacek is regularly showcased on NPR’s Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday and (as featured composer/performer) A Prairie Home Companion; television appearances include CNN International, Entertainment Tonight, and The Tonight Show. A highly sought-after chamber musician and collaborator, Novacek performs with Leila Josefowicz, Lynn Harrell, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Cho-Liang Lin, Emmanuel Pahud, Jeremy Denk, Renaud Capuçon, Truls Mørk, Matt Haimovitz, Elmar Oliveira, and Dmitry Sitkovetsky, as well as with the members of the Emerson, Ying, St. Lawrence, Miro and Tokyo String Quartets. He is also a member of the versatile piano trio Intersection, with violinist Laura Frautschi and cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper. An active composer, Novacek’s works have been taken up by many prominent international musicians; commissioning bodies include the 5 Browns, Ying Quartet, Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo, Eastman School, Scotia Festival, Concertante, Pacific Symphony, Ensemble Liaison, Schubert Club, Millennium, Seattle Commissioning Club, Three Tenors, Kiri Te Kanawa, and pop diva Diana Ross. Novacek is an active recording artist whose over many CDs have garnered numerous international awards (Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Grammy nomination for “Best Chamber Music Performance"); labels include Philips, Nonesuch, Naxos, Arabesque, Warner Classics, Sony/BMG, Koch International, New World, Universal Classics, Ambassador, Azica, Marquis, Arkay, Neuma, IBS Classical, Pony Canyon, Four Winds, and EMI Classics. Novacek teaches piano and chamber music at Mannes School of Music in New York City.