"Moore creates here a one-woman opera which is thrilling both for its drama and dazzling pianism"
Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 2004

hot off the press
“Pianist Lisa Moore’s rendition of Annie Gosfield’s “Lightning Slingers and Dead Ringers,” in its U.S. premiere, (@ the Bang on a Can Marathon) was a tour de force. A layered pastiche that includes prepared-piano, vintage-synthesizer and factory sounds, the jazz-inflected music was anchored by a mechanical continuo that recalled old-time railroad machinery. The combination of grand piano and well-chosen electronic samples created a 21st-century orchestra for a single performer.”
(Gail Wein, MusicalAmerica, July’08)

“New York based Australian pianist Lisa Moore complemented Bittova perfectly. In some ways she played the “straight” partner to Bittova, creating intuitively minimal instrumental foils for the Czech artists’ surreal vocal excursions. But she could sweep across the keyboard in rhapsodic glissandi to mirror Bittova in full flight, or coax the audience into becoming “grunters” or “clappers” on an idiosyncratic piano etude. The evening’s repertoire ranged from East European classical and folk pieces to songs by Randy Newman and John Lennon. There were also lullabies, where Bittova’s shrill birdcalls, fingers snaps and foot stamps dissolved into graceful lyrics (in Czech, English or Russian) and luminous piano accompaniment by Moore. For the audience it was like spending a few hours down the rabbit hole of Alice in Wonderland. Superb.”
(Jessica Nicholas, The Age, May 08)

“Pianist Lisa Moore bestowed her ferocious technical skills and interpretive brilliance on two piano pieces by Elena Kats-Chernin…”
(for Other Minds-Josh Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, March 08)

“I wasn't as impressed as I was by Lisa Moore's range of expressivity on both "The Dream of the Lost Traveller" (composed by her husband Martin Bresnick, based on a poem by Blake) and "Piano Piece No. 4" by Frederic Rzewski (protesting the Pinochet regime, with thunder and hope). Moore is pianist for the Bang on a Can All-Stars, but alone truly distinguished herself.”
(Howard Mandel www.artsjournal.com: “Jazz Beyond Jazz”, Jan’08)

“Lisa Moore premiered Stainless Staining (2007) (by Donnacha Dennehy) a post-minimalist study in which a dense, rhythmically steady electronic score surrounded a piano line that began as a straightforward pulse and eventually drew on rollicking figures that evoked Jerry Lee Lewis and other 1950s rockers.”
(New York Times, March '07)

“suffused throughout with powerful, dense passages of fearsome difficulty, and Moore made it look easy
…Moore’s thundering virtuosity…she virtually demolished the piano’s lower register at the end.”
(‘Keys to the Future’ program, NYC, “Seen and Heard Music Web” Jan 06)

“And, indeed, there were times when I was able to channel everything else out—
the new Lisa Moore solo plus pre-recorded Lisa version of Julia Wolfe's piece for six pianos (‘my lips from speaking’) was a revelation.”
(Frank Oteri, NewMusicBox)

"…my childhood was spent in the leafy suburbs of Canberra, Australia. I remember long afternoons stretched out on the carpet, head by the speakers, listening to Peter and the Wolf, the Grieg Piano Concerto, the latest Beatles singles and my parent’s large collection of 78‘s--songs by Eartha Kitt, Smacker Fitzgibbon and Rose Murphy. Teenage years were partly spent lying under the stars in outdoor concerts hearing local bands like Skyhooks and Midnight Oil. The rest of the time I was acting in youth and school theater, being Snow White and Oliver Twist and generally blowing off school. But for as long as I can remember the piano has been a part of my life, and for many years the violin too.

My mother played Schumann, my grandmother played Schubert. There was always a piano around. As a Sydney conservatory student I met real living composers and I threw myself into the exciting world of premieres and new creations. New music deepened my empathy for the classical repertoire. Approached from a fresh perspective the classics suddenly sounded “avant-garde”. I moved overseas to study in the cornfields of Illinois and found myself surrounded by a huge new music and jazz scene. Long story short, 5 years later, after putting time in up-state NY and Paris, I moved to New York City-over 23 years ago.

I’ve met and played with so many diverse, first-rate musicians. Composers have written heaps and heaps of notes for me and I try to play them, with clarity, gusto and conviction. I’ve performed and recorded old, new and unusual music all over the world with many kinds of musicians in different venues. I’ve played in the pit with the ballet, in the back with the percussion, out front in concertos and on stage in the theater. I’ve played on renowned stages, on boats, in ancient caves and smelly dives and under umbrellas. Music gives me freedom from the conventional and a safe place to take risks."

The music you are listening to is
‘Wed’ by David Lang,
from the DVD/CD Elevated
Cantaloupe Music

Available Programs

ipiano: keys to my brilliant career    •     The Totally Wired Piano    •     Wilde's World

The Pianist Speaks    •    Bresnick's Blake & Ligeti's Legacy

Eastern Roots: Western Music    •    From the Street: Leos Janacek 

Russian Rituals    •    Purple Black and Blues

Ozmosis    •    Amercian Rites