Alan Weiss was born in New York City into a Jewish family of Polish/Argentinian birth. Hailed as “one of the outstanding pianists of his generation” by legendary Czech pianist Rudolf Firkušný, he is “a poet” in the words of Brussels' Le Soir, whose playing, as was noted by The Daily Telegraph of London, “penetrates to the very core of the music”. “[He projected] a sense of line resembling in many respects the orchestral wizardry of Furtwängler”, wrote Spectator Online. Mr. Weiss is indeed a throwback to an earlier age of free-thinking performing musicians.
His background is unusually varied, having begun his studies on the classical guitar, receiving advice and encouragement, from the age of ten, of Andrés Segovia. The genius of Maestro Segovia left its indelible mark on his musical character and artistic development. David Saperton, the illustrious teacher of Cherkassky, Katchen and Bolet; son-in-law of Godowsky and assistant at Curtis to the legendary Josef Hofmann, served at a crucial point in Alan’s pianistic development. Under the guidance of Firkusny’s deep musicianship he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Juilliard School.
In 1974 Mr. Weiss was invited by Rudolf Serkin to participate in his Marlboro Music Festival. The following year he was a winner of the Naumburg Piano Competition in Carnegie Hall. In 1978 he was awarded a silver-medal in the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Competition, effectively marking the beginning of his international career.
Chamber music concerts have included performances with such great musicians as Rudolf Firkušný, Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky, Ivry Gitlis, Pina Carmirelli, Dora Schwarzberg, Elmar Oliveira, Rafael Oleg, Alissa Margulis, Michael Flaksman and Mirel Iancovici. His recordings of solo and chamber music have appeared on the Pavane, Vox, Phonic, D.G. and Sony labels, and a cd of solo piano music by Alkan for Fidelio was greeted as one of the great recordings of that composer. More recent recordings of solo music by Alkan and Brahms have appeared on the Brilliant label. And his latest project of extraordinary piano transcriptions has just been issued on a new cd by UANÁ along with a simultaneous publication of these scores.
Mr. Weiss is piano professor at The Lemmens Institute in Leuven, Belgium. During important teaching tenures both there and at Utrecht Conservatory his students have included Sergio Tiempo, Akane Sakai, Edna Stern, Eliane Reyes, Carl Vandoorne, Stefan Hofkes, Gerda Struhal, Lily Maisky, Jan Lust, Joris Lejeune, Akiko Sakuma, Sylvia Thereza, Maxim Bandurin, Rosalía Gomez Lasheras, Javier Rameix, Toru Oyama, Alexandros Sarakenidis, Ernst Munneke, Jeroen D'hoe (composer) and Tom Beghin (fortepianist/musicologist)---just to mention a few among many gifted musicians.
In recent years, Mr. Weiss has been invited by Ms. Argerich to participate in her festivals, giving performances and masterclasses that have generated real excitement along with critical praise.