Adam Tendler

Adam Tendler
Background information
Born
Barre, Vermont, U.S.
GenresClassical
OccupationMusician
InstrumentPiano
Years active1999–present
LabelsIndependent

Adam Tendler is an American pianist.[1][2] He received a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his album Inheritances in 2025.[3] He serves on the piano faculty at New York University’s Steinhardt School.[4]

Life and career

Tendler was born in Barre, Vermont. He earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.[5] In 2009, he launched America 88x50, a self-organized tour of solo piano concerts in all fifty U.S. states. The project inspired his memoir 88x50, which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.[6]

Tendler has appeared as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and others.[7] He has commissioned works from composers such as Christian Wolff, Dev Hynes, Nico Muhly, Missy Mazzoli and Laurie Anderson.[8][9] He has also contributed essays to The New York Times and New Music USA.[10][11]

In 2019, following his father’s death, Tendler used a cash inheritance to commission sixteen new short works for solo piano.[10] The resulting program, Inheritances, premiered in 2022 and has been performed across the United States and Canada.[12] It premiered in 2023 and has been performed across the United States. A recording was released by New Amsterdam Records in December 2024 and received a 2025 Grammy nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.[13][3]

Tendler was artist-in-residence at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn from 2023 to 2024. As part of the residency, he created Exit Strategy, a site-specific multimedia installation presented at the cemetery’s Fort Hamilton Gatehouse.[14]

Publications

  • 2013 – 88x50: A Memoir of Sexual Discovery, Modern Music, and the United States of America
  • 2024 – tidepools

Selected discography

  • 2005: Selected Live Performances
  • 2008: Autumn Lines
  • 2014: 88X50
  • 2015: Solo and Chamber Music By Edward T. Cone
  • 2019: Robert Palmer: Piano Music (New World Records)
  • 2020: Franz Liszt: Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (with Jenny Lin, Steinway & Sons)
  • 2023: Julius Eastman Vol. 3: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? (New Amsterdam Records)
  • 2024: Inheritances (New Amsterdam Records)

Accolades

References

  1. ^ "Pianist Adam Tendler Creates Powerful Art From Inheritance". sfcv.org. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  2. ^ a b "Adam Tendler: On Modern Music, the Advantages of Self-Publishing, and Coming Out on the Page". lambdaliterary.org. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  3. ^ a b "Adam Tendler". grammy.com. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  4. ^ "Adam Tendler". steinhardt.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  5. ^ "Jacobs School of Music alumni nominated for Grammy Awards". music.indiana.edu. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  6. ^ "Adam Tendler and Sarah Cahill, piano". italianacademy.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  7. ^ "Vermont Conversation: Pianist Adam Tendler transforms his father's death into 'little masterpieces'". vtdigger.org. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  8. ^ "Adam Tendler: a modern-music evangelist preaches his gospel". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  9. ^ "March 2012, Kyra Kordoski in Conversation with Adam Tendler John Cage, Sonatas and Interludes". whitehotmagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  10. ^ a b "My Father's Death, an Envelope of Cash, a Legacy in Music". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  11. ^ "In Search of Robert Palmer". newmusicusa.org. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  12. ^ "Pianist Remembers Dad With A Little Help From His Composer Friends". classicalvoiceamerica.org. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  13. ^ "inheritances". newamrecords.org. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  14. ^ "Exit Strategy". green-wood.com. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  15. ^ "Lincoln Center Awards For Emerging Artists Celebrate Ten Remarkable And Rising Talents". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  16. ^ "Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music". mikhashofftrust.org. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
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