Commentators and critics suggest that pianist Orion Weiss has a “powerful technique and exceptional insight” and that he commands a “head-spinning range of colours that have dazzled audiences around the world.” To be sure, he has performed with major orchestras from around the world, and his affinity for chamber music has seen stunning collaborations with violin greats Augustin Hadelich, James Ehnes, and others. In 2024, Weiss released Arc III, a collection of pieces that make peace, hope, love, ambition, optimism and the divine as inspirations.
Orion Weiss Plays Chopin’s Ballade in A-flat Major, Op. 47
Early Ambitions
Orion Weiss © Jacob Blickenstaff
Named after one of the major constellations in the sky, Orion Weiss was born in Iowa City on 8 November 1981. His musical talents were immediately apparent, and he began his music studies at the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City. Founded by the mother of William Preucil, concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, this fine arts preschool for children ages three to five has become internationally known for its excellence in early music instruction.
At the age of 4, the Weiss family moved to Lyndhurst, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Orion continued his piano studies with Carol Lubetkin and with the pianist and composer Edith Reed. Eventually, he enrolled in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Young Artists Program, and studied for five years with Paul Schenly beginning in late junior high and all through high school.
Leoš Janáček: V mlhách (In the Mists), JW VIII/22 (Orion Weiss, piano)
Early Inspirations
Orion Weiss and Augustin Hadelich
Paul Schenly was born in Munich, and after spending some time in South America, he came to the United States at the age of five. He is the artistic director of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and Orion Weiss calls him his “musical father.” According to Weiss, “Schenly was the person who inspired me to be a pianist, and he showed me exactly how much work it would take to be one.”
Weiss loved his time at the Cleveland Institute of Music because, as he explained in an interview, “I not only played for Paul Schenly each week, but I also played for Sergei Babayan, Daniel Shapiro and Kathryn Brown, so I sometimes had three lessons a week on different repertoire. Mr. Schenly wanted me to be soaking in everybody’s ideas.”
Orion Weiss Plays Debussy’s “L’isle joyeyse”
Juilliard
Paul Schenly
Once Orion had graduated from high school, he moved to New York to begin his studies at the Juilliard School. As he explained in an interview, “I went to Juilliard because I loved playing the piano more than anything else, more than any other subject.” He became a student of Emanuel Ax, a relationship he described as “simply amazing. He is a wonderful man and a wonderful teacher.”
Weiss later explained, “I was so utterly enthralled by the challenges and the endless repertoire. Each new piece was a discovery. I loved doing it, but I guess I was too young to think about what a career would mean. I just felt that I didn’t want to do anything else, and it slowly became a career bit by bit.”
Amy Beach: Romance, Op. 23 (Augustin Hadelich, violin; Orion Weiss, piano)
Breakthrough
Emanuel Ax © Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
In March 1999, during his study years at Juilliard, Weiss stepped in on less than 24-hour notice for André Watts and a performance of the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was immediately invited to return for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto a few months later. And in 2011, he substituted for Leon Fleisher with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood.
As Weiss explained, “It was all about answering the phone at the right time but also being willing to take a plunge. Of course, it means you have to change your weekend plans, but if those plans don’t involve playing a concert, you have to do it.” Weiss has since performed across the globe, “thankful for a world filled with amazing musicians and inspiring people to collaborate with.” For Weiss, “Music is an entire universe filled with spiritual riches, and my life absolutely overflows with gratitude for it.”
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