Tyler Wottrich, Piano
Recently appointed to the faculty at North Dakota State University, pianist Tyler Wottrich has developed a career spanning an unusually broad spectrum of musical genres including solo piano, chamber music, opera, and ballet. An alumnus of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW, Wottrich performs frequently in such venues as Carnegie's Zankel and Weill Halls, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Juilliard School. Wottrich received the 2011 Emerson Quartet's Ackerman Prize for chamber music and has performed with such artists as Carol Wincenc, Patrick Gallois, Alan Kay, Frank Morelli, Kevin Cobb, William VerMeulen, Harry Bicket, Andres Diaz, and Ransom Wilson. The growing list of composers he has worked with includes John Corigliano, Bright Sheng, John Luther Adams, David Lang, Missy Mazzoli, and Richard Hundley. In his collaboration with Bolshoi prima ballerina Nina Ananiashvili, Tyler was described by the Minneapolis Star Tribune as "fearless and loving." His performances have been heard on classical radio stations including Chicago's WFMT, Cleveland's WCLV, Minnesota's MPR, and Michigan's WMNU. In summer 2015, Wottrich joined the collaborative piano faculty at the Banff Centre, one of Canada’s most prominent music festivals.
In his role at NDSU, Wottrich is developing a new graduate collaborative piano program and teaches applied piano as well as theory and analysis courses. In Spring 2015 he created and directed the NDSU Chamber Music Festival, which in its inaugural season featured NDSU student pianists alongside professional string players from around the country. During his residency at Stony Brook University between 2009 and 2013, Wottrich maintained a successful studio of undergraduate and graduate students. He has given masterclasses in the United States and abroad at institutions including the University of Wisconsin, the University of Minnesota, the University of North Dakota, South Dakota State University, Skidmore College, the University of Alabama at Huntsville, Jacksonville State University, the University of North Georgia, the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, the Pyotr Eben School in the Czech Republic, and Cremarian University in the Ukraine. As a member of Carnegie Hall's Ensemble ACJW, Wottrich presented numerous interactive performances and educational presentations in public schools, hospitals, prisons, and other community venues throughout New York City's five boroughs. The video of a cartoon theme mash-up Wottrich composed for Ensemble ACJW has surpassed 1.5 million views on YouTube.
Committed to his collaborations with singers, Wottrich has performed with members of the Grammy Award-winning African-American Choral Group "Sounds of Blackness" and performed at Marilyn Horne's "The Song Continues" at Carnegie Hall after garnering an honorable mention in the 2011 Marilyn Horne Song Competition. Wottrich has been a vocal coach at Stony Brook University, Opera North, the Music Academy of the West, and the Cleveland Art Song Festival. Wottrich has continued his vocal work as staff pianist at the Fargo-Moorhead Opera.
Recent appearances include solo recitals and chamber music performances at Carnegie's Weill and Zankel Recital Halls, the Dame Myra Hess Series at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Juilliard School, Lehman College, Dartmouth College, and Subculture NYC. In March 2015 Wottrich held an educational performance residency at the PianoArts Piano Competition and Festival in Milwaukee, and in June 2015 was head of the jury for their Wisconsin Youth Competition. Wottrich has also served on juries for MTNA State and Division competitions as well as the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition.
Wottrich began his piano studies with Gail Olszewski before studying with Lydia Artymiw at the University of Minnesota, from which he graduated summa cum laude in 2009 with degrees in both music and mathematics. He completed his M.M. and D.M.A. as a Staller Fellow at Stony Brook University, where he studied with Gilbert Kalish.