Composer and pianist
Timo Andres has had works commissioned by major orchestras and venues in the U.S. and abroad. He also maintains a flourishing career as a solo and collaborative pianist.
Timothy Andres was born in 1985 in Palo Alto, California, but grew up in rural Connecticut. When he was 17, he appeared as a pianist on the National Public Radio program From the Top, playing music by
Ravel as well as his own Tango. He attended the pre-college program at the Juilliard School in New York and went on to Yale University for both undergraduate and master's degrees. Already as an undergraduate, he had composed such chamber works as I Found It in the Woods, outdoor music for flute, viola, and harp, and like
Charles Ives, he incorporates echoes of New England's natural environment into his music. When
Andres was 24, the
Los Angeles Philharmonic commissioned his orchestral work Nightjar, and it was conducted by
John Adams.
Andres has since received such commissions as those from the
Boston Symphony (Everything Happens So Much), Carnegie Hall (Strong Language, performed by the
Takács Quartet), and pianist
Jonathan Biss (the piano concerto The Blind Banister). His music draws on not only classical influences, especially from
Ives, but also those from such popular performers as
Radiohead,
Sigur Rós, and
Brian Eno. His plans as of 2020 included the premiere of a choral-orchestral work, Land Mass, for the
Philharmonisches Orchester des Staatstheaters Cottbus in Germany. As a pianist,
Andres has performed with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic, the
North Carolina Symphony, and the
Britten Sinfonia, among other ensembles. His collaborations as a pianist include one with
Philip Glass, whose complete Etudes he has performed in concert.
More than 15 of
Andres' compositions have been recorded. He has also issued several albums under his name on the Nonesuch label, including
Home Stretch (2013), a collection of orchestral works. In 2020, he appeared as both composer and pianist on
I Still Play, an anthology of works by various composers and performers. In 2018,
Andres became a member of the composition faculty at Mannes School of Music in New York.