Francesco Tristano

Francesco Tristano is an artist of many talents: pianist, composer, techno and jazz musician, combining eras, genres and styles in his music. Francesco has become a key reference in a new movement which explores the creative intersection between classical and electronic music, homogenising it in a natural way which unites audiences from various worlds into his own universe. Tristano often collaborates with important names in different genres such as Derrick May, Carl Craig and Michel Portal to name a few.

Born in 1981, Tristano discovered the piano at the age of five and studied at New York’s Juilliard School for five years. It was in New York that he started to work with electronic and club music as well as completing a master class with Rosalyn Tureck. In 2004, he won the first prize at the International piano competition for contemporary music in Orléans, France. After recent successes such as ​‘A Soft Shell Groove’, Tristano continues to present new compositions regularly.

Upcoming concert highlights include solo performances at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouw, L’auditori Barcelona, Le Poisson Rouge, LSO St Luke’s and Studio 338. In the 2019/20, he will also be performing concerti with Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National du Strasbourg. Hong Kong Philharmonic (premiering his new concerto Tokyo Stories: A suite for piano and orchestra with conductor Rumon Gamba) and with Sibiu Philharmonic, as part of the Enescu Festival. 

Tristano regularly works with a number of important orchestras including the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig (with Kristjan Järvi), Orchestre National de Lille, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, BBC Concert Orchestra, Szczecin Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Spanish National Orchestra and Choir.

Tristano has a growing discography including recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations and complete keyboard concertos, Luciano Berio’s complete piano works, and Girolamo Frescobaldi’s Toccatas. His album ​‘Idiosynkrasia’ (inFine, 2010), recorded at Carl Craig’s Planet E‑communications in Detroit, was released to critical acclaim; Tristano accomplished the synthesis of digital virtuosity and rare electronic textures, which he now calls ​‘piano2.0’. On Deutsche Grammophon he released ​‘BachCage’, produced by Moritz von Oswald, in 2011, ​‘The Long Walk’ (Buxehetude/​Bach/​Tristano) in 2012, and ​‘Scandale’ with Alice Sara Ott. Tristano is a Sony Classics artist, releasing ​‘Piano Circle Songs’ featuring Chilly Gonzales in September 2017, and ​‘Tokyo Stories’ in May 2019, both to critical acclaim.