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About the Artists

Amy Dissanayake

Amy Briggs Dissanayake has established herself as a leading interpreter of the music of living composers, while also bringing a fresh perspective to music of the past.

She recorded two volumes of David Rakowski’s Piano Etudes on Bridge Records to critical acclaim, and will record volume 3 in 2008. Based in Chicago, she is a featured soloist and chamber musician on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series, where she has worked with composers such as Pierre Boulez, Oliver Knussen, David Lang, Tania Léon, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Augusta Read Thomas.

The Chicago Tribune has called “extraordinary” Dissanayake’s “mastery of what lay on the dense, printed page and beyond,” and the Chicago Sun-Times called her a “ferociously talented pianist.” Dissanayake has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa.

In 1993, she was selected by the U.S. Information Agency to tour Africa and South Asia as a U.S. Artistic Ambassador. Her acclaimed concerts combined traditional repertoire with contemporary American music.

Today, her recital programs connect composers from all eras and nationalities. Recordings soon to be released include a disc of 20th and 21st century tangos for solo piano.

Upcoming engagements include a performance with Ursula Oppens and the Mark Morris Dance Company at the Ravinia Festival, as well a solo recital at Symphony Space in New York. Ms. Dissanayake studied with Ursula Oppens at Northwestern University, where she earned her doctorate in Piano Performance. She is a Steinway Artist.

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