About this user
Described as a "sensitive musician with an ear for color" by the Cincinnati Enquirer, pianist Brendan Kinsella has appeared widely throughout the United States and Asia in venues such as the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Aronoff Center for the Arts in Cincinnati. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degree at the College-Conservatory of Music as a pupil of Frank Weinstock (with additional coaching from James Tocco and Kenneth Griffiths) and in 2008 received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City as a student of Robert Weirich. In masterclasses, he has performed for artists such as Christopher Elton, Susan Graham, Martin Katz, Ani Kavafian, Anne-Akiko Meyers, Frederic Rzewski, Andre-Michel Schub, Peter Serkin, David Shifrin, and the Takacs Quartet. Recently, he was a Solo Piano Fellow at the Music Academy of the West and worked under the guidance of Jerome Lowenthal, professor of piano at the Juilliard School. In 2010, he will make his debut as a soloist in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.
Brendan has appeared as a soloist in concerti ranging from Beethoven to Barber with the Kentucky Symphony, the Jefferson City Symphony, the CCM Chamber and Concert Orchestras, the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra, and the UMKC Wind Symphony with conductors such as Xian Zhang, J.R. Cassidy, and Robert Olson. As a collaborative pianist, he has performed both as an orchestral pianist and in duo-recitals with members of the New World Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Kansas City Symphony and Lyric Opera, and in recital with artists such as Benny Kim, Carter Enyeart, and Daniel Saenz.
As a proponent of the music of our time, he has presented all-contemporary recitals featuring the works of living masters such as John Adams, Martin Bresnick, George Crumb, David Dzubay, and Frederic Rzewski alongside newly-commissioned works by emerging voices. Of a 2007 performance of Rzewski's De Profundis at Hahn Hall in Montecito, the Santa Barbara Daily Sound remarked that "Kinsella's performance was truly astonishing, as he missed nary a beat nor tripped over any words. The sense of terror, misery, despair, disdain, and righteous anger was palpable, and the essay is ultimately life-affirming if horrifying...I'm glad to have heard it, especially by such a passionate and gifted pianist who clearly believed in his mission." The Kansas City Star declared in 2009 that Brendan's interpretation of George Crumb's chamber repertoire was "marvelous...he displayed convincing tonal colors, impressive technique, and incisive rhythms." He joins the guest artist faculty of the soundSCAPE New Music Fesitval in Maccagno, Italy in July, 2010.
Among Brendan's experiences as a visiting artist at festivals and universities include recent and upcoming engagements at the 2009 College Music Society Great Plains Regional Conference, SUNY Fredonia, the University of Idaho's Lionel Hampton School of Music, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Sam Houston State University. His seminar topics have included lectures on recent developments in American music, the influence of Greek philosophy on Olivier Messiaen's piano music, and studies on the evolving role of the collaborative pianist in selected chamber repertoire. Presently, he is Assistant Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano at the University of Texas-Pan American. Perviously, he served as a member of the piano department at Missouri Western State University.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1980, Brendan began playing the piano at age 11 and made his concerto debut at 15. His recent and upcoming appearances include solo, concerto, and chamber performances in Italy, Mexico, California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, New York, Ohio, and Texas.
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