About this Artist

“One of the busiest and most versatile pianists in town…all around go-to new music specialist” (Mark Swed, LA Times), RICHARD VALITUTTO is an emphatic and dedicated performer of compositions for the piano that span the instrument’s entire existence. Described by the Los Angeles Times as a “vivid soloist,” “quietly dazzling,” and “vigorously virtuosic,” he is a soloist, chamber musician, vocal accompanist, and composing/improvising creative. His soloistic charisma and flexible collaborative artistry have made him one of the most sought after pianists of his generation for his tenacity in bringing dynamic life to scores in the spirit of integrated collaboration and informed understanding.

With a focus on contemporary keyboard performance, including repertoire for organ and harpsichord, Richard is particularly committed to exploring and performing the extended palette of piano techniques and piano preparation. He has consciously cultivated an omnivorous taste for style and a technical dexterity that enable him to perform and premiere music by many of the century’s finest living composers including John Adams, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Gordon, Sofia Gubaidulina, John Harbison, David Lang, George Lewis, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, and Chinary Ung. Dedicated to giving voice to the next generation of music, Richard has premiered new works by Timo Andres, Christopher Cerrone, Nicholas Deyoe, Daví∂ Brynjar Franzson, Ted Hearne, Klaus Lang, Missy Mazzoli, and Andrew Nathaniel McIntosh, among many others.

He has performed with organizations such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Brooklyn Art Song Society, MicroFest, Opera Omaha, Monday Evening Concerts, Piano Spheres, Omaha Under the Radar, wasteLAnd, People Inside Electronics, Jacaranda, and the Louis Moreau Institute, in addition to working on projects produced by Beth Morrison Projects and LA Opera, The Industry, The Hammer Museum, LACMA, and the LA Phil’s Green Umbrella series. He has also held fellowships at Tanglewood, SongFest, Bang on a Can, International Performing Arts Institute, New Music on the Point, Brevard, and Eastern Music Summer Festivals.

Richard was nominated for a Grammy® for Best Classical Compendium for the Bridge Records release Harry Partch: Bitter Music. He has also been featured as a concerto soloist and ensemble member on critically acclaimed recordings for the New World, hat[now]ART, Populist, pfMENTUM, and Bôłt Records labels. His compositions have been performed by What’s Next? Ensemble, Panic Duo, as well as the wild Up Modern Music Collective, of which he is a regularly contributing performer, composer, and arranger. Richard is a founding member of the new music quartet gnarwhallaby, called “startlingly versatile” by the New York Times in their Carnegie Hall debut.   More information at www.richardvalitutto.net.