Orion Weiss

One of the most sought-after soloists and chamber music collaborators of his generation, Orion Weiss is a “brilliant pianist” (The New York Times) with “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post). He has dazzled audiences worldwide with his “head-spinning range of colors” (Chicago Tribune) and has performed with all the major orchestras of North America, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Highlights of Weiss’s recent seasons include performances at London’s Wigmore Hall; his return to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Michael Tilson Thomas; his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, led by Ken-David Masur; a live-stream with the Minnesota Orchestra; and performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra. Recently, Weiss was featured in performances in Tokyo’s Kioi Hall and Opera City Concerto Hall, Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Hong Kong’s Premiere Performances and Next Generation Arts, as well as at the Edinburgh International Festival and the Bergen International Festival in Norway.

Known for his affinity for chamber music, Weiss performs regularly with violinists James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, and William Hagen; pianists Michael Stephen Brown and Shai Wosner; and the Ariel, Parker, and Pacifica Quartets, among others. He has appeared across the United States at venues and festivals including the Ravinia Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Seattle and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festivals, and more.

In March 2022, First Hand Records released the first album of Weiss’s Arc Trilogy – Arc I: Granados, Janáček, Scriabin; followed by Arc II, featuring the music of Ravel, Brahms, and Shostakovich in November 2022. Arc III, featuring works by Brahms, Schubert, Debussy, Dohnányi, Ligeti, and Talma, was released in February 2025. Weiss can also be heard on the Naxos, Telos, Bridge, Yarlung, Warner Classics, Cedille, and Artek labels on recordings such as The Piano Protagonists with The Orchestra Now, led by Leon Botstein; a disc of Scarlatti Sonatas for Naxos; a solo recital disc of Bartók, Dvorák, and Prokofiev; Brahms Sonatas with violinist Arnaud Sussmann; a solo recital album of J.S. Bach, Scriabin, Mozart, and Carter; and recital discs with cellist Julie Albers and violinist Augustin Hadelich. In addition, Weiss has released a recording of Christopher Rouse’s Seeing, a recording of Korngold’s Left Hand concerto, other works with Leon Botstein and TON, and recordings of Gershwin’s complete works for piano and orchestra with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and JoAnn Falletta. Upcoming recordings feature Korngold’s Piano Quintet with the Pacifica Quartet and Debussy’s complete Études.

A native of Ohio, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1999. The next month, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and was immediately invited to return later that year. Career honors include the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year, Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Gina Bachauer Scholarship at The Juilliard School, and the Mieczyslaw Munz Scholarship.

In 2000, he graduated from the Young Artist high school program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Schenly, Daniel Shapiro, and Sergei Babayan. In 2004, he graduated from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax and Jerome Lowenthal. In 2005, he toured Israel with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Itzhak Perlman. That same year, he made his New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall and his European debut in a recital at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Learn more: www.orionweiss.com.