Thomas Pandolfi
- Biography
- Repertoire
- Discography
- Reviews
- Itinerary
- Media
The virtuoso American pianist THOMAS PANDOLFI, known for his passionate artistry, dazzling technique and exciting performances, is, with each passing season, becoming more and more sought after by audiences throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and China.
Thomas’ current season is highlighted by concerto engagements with the Chesapeake Orchestra, Florence Symphony Orchestra, The Fredericksburg Symphony, Lakeview Orchestra, Monticello Chamber Orchestra and The Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest, as well as recital touring throughout 17 states. He also returns to China for more concerts and masterclasses.
An enthusiastic champion of new music, Thomas’ most recent CD, released on Seafront Records is Polo Piatti’s stunning Bohemian Concerto with John Andrews conducting the National Symphony Orchestra (UK). He has also recorded Gershwin’s Concerto in F and Liszt’s Concerto #1 with Peter Schmelzer and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, Thomas is a popular cross-over artist, with his virtuosic transcriptions of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Leonard Bernstein and Marvin Hamlisch much in demand.
A graduate of The Juilliard School, Thomas earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees as a scholarship student.
Thomas Pandolfi is a Steinway Artist.
[CHAMBER ENSEMBLE REPERTOIRE FOLLOWS CONCERTO LIST]
ADDINSELL, Richard
Warsaw Concerto
ALBÉNIZ
Concierto fantástico
ANDERSON, Leroy
Concerto in C
BARTÓK
Concerto #1
BEETHOVEN
Concerto #1 in C, Op. 15
Concerto #4 in G, Op. 58
Concerto #5 in E-flat, Op. 73 ("Emperor")
Fantasia in c, Op. 80 ("Choral Fantasy")
BRAHMS
Concerto #1 in d, Op. 15
CHOPIN
Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise, Op. 22
Concerto #1 in e, Op. 11
FRANCK
Symphonic Variations
GERSHWIN
Concerto in F
Rhapsody in Blue
Second Rhapsody
GOTTSCHALK
Grande Tarantelle
The Union
GRIEG
Concerto in a, Op. 16
D’INDY
Symphony on a French Mountain Air
HUMMEL
Concerto #2 in a, Op. 85
KLUGE, Kim Allen & Kathryn
American Concerto
LISZT
Concerto #1 in E-flat
Concerto #2 in A
MacDOWELL
Concerto #2 in d, Op. 23
MENDELSSOHN
Concerto #1 in g, Op. 25
MOSZKOWSKI
Concerto in E, Op. 59
MOZART
Concerto #9 in E-flat, K. 271
Concerto #12 in A, K. 414
Concerto #20 in d, K. 466
Concerto #25 in C, K. 503
PADEREWSKI
Concerto in a, Op. 17
PIATTI, Polo
Bohemian Concerto
PROCTOR, Simon
James Bond Concerto
Frank Sinatra Concerto
Hollywood Concerto
RACHMANINOFF
Concerto #1 in f#, Op. 1 (rev. 1917)
Concerto #2 in c, Op. 18
Concerto #3 in d, Op. 30
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
RAVEL
Concerto in D for the Left Hand
Concerto in G
RODRIGO
Concierto heroico
SAINT-SAËNS
Concerto #4 in c, Op. 44
SCHUMANN, Clara
Concerto in a, Op. 7
SHOSTAKOVICH
Concerto #1 in c for Piano, Trumpet & Strings, Op. 35
STRAUSS
Panathenäenzug, Op. 74 (for the left hand)
TCHAIKOVSKY
Concerto #1 in b-flat, Op. 23
WILSON, Mark Edwards
Concerto
XIAN, Xinghai/Yin
The Yellow River Concerto
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PAOLO PIATTI: BOHEMIAN CONCERTO FOR PIANO & ORCHESTRA John Andrews/National Symphony Orchestra (UK) Seafront Records: SEAFRONTCD6 |
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“LISZT: GYPSY PASSAGES” Piano Concerto #1 in E-flat private label |
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“GERSHWIN” Piano Concerto in F private labe |
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“POLISH MASTERS” Paderewski: Piano Concerto in a, Op. 17 private label |
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“THE SILENCE BETWEEN” Beethoven: Sonata #8 in c, Op. 13 (“Pathetique”) private label |
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“LANGUAGE OF INFINITY - A SELECTION OF CHOPIN” Polonaise in A, Op. 40, #1 (“Military”) private label |
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“AFTER THE APPLAUSE - THOMAS PANDOLFI PLAYS THE ENCORES” Lloyd Webber/Pandolfi: Phantom Phantasy private label |
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“HOLIDAY SPIRIT: PIANO WORKS FOR THE SEASON OF CHRISTMAS” Berlin; Anderson: White Christmas/Sleigh Ride private label |
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“THOMAS PANDOLFI - PIANO” Chopin: Polonaise in A-flat, Op. 53 (“Heroic”) private label |
Playing with the Bach Sinfonia, Thomas Pandolfi gave the Mozart Piano Concerto a healthy, extroverted performance, taking the tricky third movement register leaps accurately and in tempo, and never prettifying the music's wit and verve.
THE WASHINGTON POST
Thomas Pandolfi sunk into Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major as if he wrote it himself, enjoying the concerto as much as the audience; he listened intently to the nuances of the orchestra, and seemed to have an organic rapport with the conductor.
THE TRENTON TIMES
Pandolfi played with the flair and bravado necessary to be true to Grieg's masterpiece, the Piano Concerto in A minor. After receiving a standing ovation, Pandolfi performed an encore of two George Gershwin classics. His spirited performance made it easy to understand why Pandolfi has been praised for his innovative interpretations of Gershwin's music.
THE GAZETTE (Cedar Rapids, IA)
Thomas Pandolfi: the Spectacular and the Sublime [headline]
Pianist Thomas Pandolfi played the Frederick Collection’s 1877 Erard in Ashburnham on October 23. He offered a carefully crafted and balanced program of works, featuring Franz Liszt , and Frédéric Chopin. Pandolfi played the Liszt works in what might well be characterized as the epitome of a Lisztian style, not holding back any energy in his approach to the keyboard in the virtuosic pieces and making extraordinary demands on the strings. He was appropriately more restrained in the quieter ones and in all of the Chopin pieces. He controlled the dynamics from fff, maybe even ffff to ppp superbly. The mastery of the scores, the precision of the playing, and the finesse of the expression were all simply spectacular. It was a truly bravura performance, both in the virtuosic and in the reflective pieces, yet one completely without gratuitous exaggerated display.
THE BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER
Liszt's Concerto No. 1 for Piano in E-Flat (with The Lima Symphony Orchestra) allowed Pandolfi to show his capabilities with the keys. Up and down the keyboard he went, both in huge chords and lyric melodies, his hands caressed the instrument. A standing ovation was nearly immediate, and the skill he showed was indeed impressive.
THE LIMA NEWS (OH)
Williamsburg experienced a phenomenon at the Kimball Theatre. An explosion of pianistic virtuosity, not heard here in recent memory, was presented by Thomas Pandolfi, internationally known concert pianist. He delighted his audience with an all-Gershwin program. The packed house responded with great acclaim as he concluded Rhapsody in Blue and launched into a total change of pace with improvisations on melodies from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. It was a breathtaking concert!
THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE
Spectacular and impressive, such an opener (Liszt's Dante Sonata) can end up being either a triumph or a disaster; in this case, it was the former, bringing the audience to its feet.
CLASSICAL VOICE OF NEW ENGLAND
Thomas Pandolfi delivered an exhilarating performance of Rachmaninoff's magnificently tuneful Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. What Pandolfi achieved with the McLean Orchestra was a rare mix of technical accuracy and cool confidence that created a masterful path through the concerto. Preserved was the start-to-finish drama, rather than disjointed pieces of "business" just to display the pianist's chops. Pandolfi also managed a trick that eludes even some celebrated pianists with Rachmaninoff's music, which is to avoid transferring the power of the concerto's thunderbolt bass notes to the top notes, and.by gracefully teasing out melodies and countermelodies, as well as luscious rolling chords, Pandolfi kept what could otherwise come across as percussive playing within the melodic structure of the full concerto. The effect was seamless, comprehensible and satisfying.
DC METRO THEATRE ARTS
Thomas Pandolfi is an exceptional virtuoso pianist who enjoys a comfortable connection with the audience. Not only is he a convincing artist at the piano, but he is also skillful in engaging the audience before each piece with helpful comments on what to expect to hear — and he is as comfortable using a microphone to introduce each piece as he is in the actual performances. It’s a pleasure to hear difficult music when the performer has such masterful control over its technical demands. Perhaps that sense of ease is one of Pandolfi’s greatest assets. His performance of Liszt's Dante Sonata was riveting, not only because of the bazillion notes required in the score, but because Pandolfi built the architecture of the piece in a way that the listener could clearly follow. The middle section elicited some of the most delicate playing of the entire program. Along with the apparent ease of playing, Pandolfi plays with an economy of motion. There is no extraneous or wasted motion even in the most virtuoso passages. One would expect the Liszt Sonata to exhaust the energy of the player, but there was plenty more to go with two encores. The fireworks heard earlier in the program continued through, bringing to memory some of Vladimir Horowitz’s grand and pianistic transcriptions. The fireworks shifted to a warm closing statement in the second encore, Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat Op. 9, No. 2, played with poetic beauty.
PENINSULA REVIEWS (CA Bay Area)
Thomas Pandolfi, the soloist for the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, is a standout among today's pianists. The climax of the evening's concert came in Pandolfi's superb performance of Liszt'sPiano Concerto No. 2. He demonstrated a great technician's grace, finesse, and polish. His virtuosity and strength, expressed in his thundering statements of the thematic material in the first movement, might have had some believing that Liszt himself had taken over the keyboard.
THE ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES
Pianist Thomas Pandolfi lent depth and perception to Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, clearly enunciating the probing, even groping, cast to this work, which Beethoven himself categorized as an anticipation of the Ninth Symphony Finale.
THE WASHINGTON POST
| 9/6/2024 (7pm) | CHESAPEAKE ORCHESTRA (St. Mary’s MD) Jeffrey Silberschlag, conductor Ravel: Piano Concerto in G |
| 9/7/2024 (7:30pm) | WILLIAM & MARY COLLEGE (Williamsburg, VA) Music Arts Center Concert Hall Chopin: Polonaise #3 |
| 9/14/2024 (7pm) | MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITY (St. Louis) Dale Williams Fine Arts Center Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue |
| 10/4/2024 (7:30pm) | MONTICELLO CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Ben Hutchens, conductor Ravel: Piano Concerto in G |
| 10/5/2024 (1pm) | Private House Concert (Washington, DC) Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 10/6/2024 (4pm) | THE DERRY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (Hershey, PA) Chopin: Polonaise #3 |
| 10/13/2024 (2pm) | LAKEVIEW ORCHESTRA Gregory Hughes, conductor Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2 |
| 10/17/2024 (7:30pm) | CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY, EMORY UNIVERSITY Williams Hall, Oxford College of Emory University (Atlanta, GA) Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio |
| 10/18/2024 (12pm) | CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY, EMORY UNIVERSITY Ackerman Hall, Michael C. Carlos Museum (Atlanta, GA) Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio |
| 10/22/2024 (12pm) | TUESDAY’S MUSIC LIVE (Augusta, GA) St. Paul’s Church Dvorák: Piano Trio #4 |
| 10/27/2024 (4pm) | HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS (Falmouth, MA) St. Paul’s Church Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio |
| 11/2/2024 (7pm) | PALACE THEATRE (Crossville, TN) Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 11/3/2024 (3pm) | GREAT FALLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (VA) Chopin: Polonaise #3 |
| 11/20/2024 (7:30pm) | EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL CHURCH (Cumberland, MD) Chopin: Polonaise #3 |
| 11/21/2024 (7:30pm) | THE RECTORY ON PRINCESS STREET (Alexandria, VA) Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue |
| 12/13/2024 (7:30pm) | SHENANDOAH VALLEY WESTMINSTER-CANTERBURY (Winchester, VA) Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 12/15/2024 (3pm) | MONTEBELLO MUSIC CLUB (Alexandria, VA) Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 1/24/2025 (7:30pm) | LAMAR LOUISE CURRY CONCERT SERIES First United Methodist Church of Coral Gables (FL) Gershwin: Concerto in F |
| 2/2/2025 (4pm) | FOUNTAIN HILLS IN-HOME CONCERTS (AZ) Chopin: Polonaise #3 |
| 2/10/2025 (7:30pm) | FLORENCE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (SC) Dr. Terry Roberts, conductor Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1 |
| 2/14/2025 (7:30pm) | FREDERICKSBURG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (VA) Dr. Kevin Bartram, conductor Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue |
| 2/15/2025 (7pm) | Private House Concert (Washington, DC) |
| 2/22/2025 (3pm) | GRIZZLY PEAK WINERY (Ashland, OR) Chopin: Polonaise #3 |
| 2/23/2025 (3pm) | JACKSONVILLE OREGON FRIENDS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC Magnolia Hotel Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue |
| 3/21/2025 (7:30pm) | NEW MUSIC MARYLAND United Universalist Church (Annapolis) Ascione: Scenes for Cello & Piano |
| 3/22/2025 (7:30pm) | THE RITZ THEATRE (Tiffin, OH) Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 4/3/2025 (5:30pm) | WASHINGTON COUNTY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS (Hagerstown, MD) Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 4/5/2025 (7:30pm) | NATIONAL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE Marymount University Ballston Center (Arlington, VA) Duo-Recital with Leonid Shushansky, violinist |
| 4/6/2025 (4pm) | MILDRED McDANIEL CONCERT SERIES Reformation Lutheran Church (Newport News, VA) Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 4/7/2025 (7:30pm) | UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON (Fredericksburg, VA) Dodd Auditorium Duo-Recital with Leonid Shushansky, violinist |
| 5/2/2025 (7:30pm) | MONTICELLO CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Ben Hutchens, conductor Mozart: Piano Concerto #12 |
| 5/3/2025 (4pm) | NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall & Arts Center (Alexandria) Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue |
| 5/18/2025 (3pm) | MUSIC ON THE DIVIDE (Georgetown, CA) IOOF Hall Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue |
| 5/30/2025 (7:30pm) | PORTSMOUTH COMMUNITY CONCERTS (VA) I. C. Norcom High School Auditorium Chopin: Polonaise #3 |
| 6/1/2025 (3pm) | CHESTNUT MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (Newport News, VA) Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 6/7/2025 (7pm) | PIANOFORTE CHICAGO (IL) PianoForte Studios Scarlatti: 3 Sonatas |
| 6/8/2025 (4pm) | SYMPHONY OF OAK PARK & RIVER FOREST (IL) Jay Friedman, conductor Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3 |
| 7/20/2025 (pm) | GATEWAY FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA (St. Louis, MO) Leon Burke, conductor Grieg: Piano Concerto |
| 10/19/2025 (3pm) | HISTORIC PIANO CONCERTS Mew Dawn Arts Center (Ashburnham, MA) |
| 10/25/2025 (7:30pm) | MANASSAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (VA) James Villani, conductor Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2 |
| 11/7/2025 (7pm) | PALACE THEATRE (Crossville, TN) |
| 11/8/2025 (3pm) | STEINWAY PIANO GALLERY CLEARWATER (FL) |
| 11/16/2025 (3pm) | GREAT FALLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (VA) |
| 12/12/2025 (7:30pm) | SHENANDOAH VALLEY WESTMINSTER-CANTERBURY (Winchester, VA) |
| 12/13/2025 (3pm) | MONTEBELLO MUSIC CLUB (Alexandria, VA) |
| 12/14/2025 (7:30pm) | EMERSON AVENUE SALON SERIES (McLean, VA) Private House Concert |
| 5/17/2026 (3pm) | FREDERICKSBURG MUSIC CLUB (TX) Fredericksburg United Methodist Church |
| 6/4/2026 (7pm) | RUTHMERE (Elkart, IN) |
| 6/6/2026 (7:30pm) | NAPTOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Anna Binneweg, conductor Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F |
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Thomas Pandolfi’s YouTube Channel
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