"a major pianist...a pianist who can unlock the secrets of the great romantic composers"
-The Washington Post"audible chocolate"
-The Costa Rica NEWS"He is without question the greatest pianist that America has produced since William Kapell."
-Music & Visions DailyHailed by reviewers around the world for his "pioneer spirit", "rich interpretive imagination", "commanding technique", "remarkable tonal beauty and masterful control of inner voices ", Roger Wright has taken his place amongst the most respected virtuosos of our time.
A native Texan, Mr. Wright has had the honor to perform with such notable orchestras as the Houston Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Brussels Chamber Orchestra, Costa Rica National Symphony, Mission Chamber Orchestra in San Jose, CA and the Glacier Symphony in Kalispell, Montana. He has given major recitals in New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Antonio, Dublin and Pretoria. Most recently, he performed the 2010 Guest Artist Concert for the Houston Tuesday Musical Club.
Roger Wright has been featured in numerous television and radio broadcasts for KENS (CBS), WOAI (NBC) , KABB Fox 29, Texas Public Radio, ABC Australia, CBC Radio Canada, 105.1 K-Mozart in Los Angeles, WFMT-FM Chicago, WQXR in New York City on David Dubal's celebrated series Reflections from the Keyboard.
A versatile performer, Wright is also in demand as a chamber musician and has made recent guest artist appearances with the Las Vegas Philharmonic (Connoisseur Series), Camerata San Antonio and the Taos Chamber Music Group. He twice received the coveted fellowship award at the Aspen Music Festival in 2000 and 2001.
Some career highlights include his debut performance at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall and the release of his debut album, Piano Masterpieces, by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The recording was in response to the overwhelming support he received from the audience, radio listeners and critics during his participation in the 2000 Sydney International Piano Competition. Music critic, Neville Cohen rated the album as "CD of the Year" (West Australian, Jan.2001). The massive airplay Piano Masterpieces received earned composer Peter Sculthorpe the Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA) award for the Most Performed Contemporary Classical Composition of 2001.
Other projects have included a collaboration with Dick Van Dyke, performing in "Wall to Wall Stephen Sondheim," a gala event at Symphony Space in New York City, and co-producing an album with Michael York.
A frequent award winner in competitions, Mr. Wright received the Gold Medal in the 2003 San Antonio International Piano Competition; and First Place in the 24th Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition (New York). He was also one of 32 competitors selected worldwide for the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Ft. Worth, Texas.
He received his bachelor's degree magna cum laude from the University of Houston and his master's degree from Rice University. His principal teachers have been Ruth Tomfohrde, Carol Barwick, Abbey Simon, Horacio Gutierrez, John Perry, and John and Nancy Weems.
When not performing, Roger Wright revels in the cultivation of young musicians. He is frequently called upon to conduct master classes and maintains a private studio in Los Angeles where he resides. His students have earned prizes in national and international competitions.
Mr. Wright, under his more casual name "Trey", is also a serious Scrabble player. In 2004, he was the winner of the National Scrabble Championship, a five-day tournament held in New Orleans, which led to appearances on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's Identity and the Today Show, CBS Good Morning America, as well as ESPN, CNN and GSN's Lingo.
