About Chad Lawson
Steinway Artist, pianist and composer Chad Lawson is a modern-day master of reinvention: his bold interpretation of the classics, electronic loops and atmospherics resonate with EDM fans and Neo-classical traditionalists alike. Lawson is a streaming star with tens of millions of followers whose entire catalog has been streamed over 500 million times and has become known as the artist creating “Classical music for the Spotify generation” through contemporary techniques and an emotive, arresting signature sound. He is equally at home performing his own rendition of contemporary hits such as Billie Eilish’s ‘When The Party’s Over’ (#26 in the Classical Charts), as he is performing Chopin sonatas.
He is the host and creator of the iHeart nominated and acclaimed mental wellness podcast ‘Calm It Down’ (600k+ downloads). In a world full of noise, Chad’s meditative music invites us all to take a moment and reconnect with who we are. He makes music for the mind, body and soul.
Chad wrote the music for the podcast ‘Lore’ and with it, toured the US for the first time. Soon after, it became a successful TV series by Amazon. His music has been used for ‘The Walking Dead’, ‘Vampire Diaries’ and ‘Viceland’, as well as numerous commercial placements including Delta Airlines and Microsoft.
Lawson’s major label debut solo piano album ‘You Finally Knew’, was released on Universal/DECCA in September of 2020. It has garnered over 200 million streams globally, spent more than 50 weeks in the Billboard Classical Charts’ top 50 -staying for over 20 consecutive weeks in the top 10-, and was #1 on Spotify UK’s New Releases. His original single ‘Stay’, has been in the Billboard Classical Charts ‘Top 25’ for 55 + consecutive weeks.
Lawson’s music has concocted a soothing musical cocktail as an antidote for this Age of Anxiety.
Chad has sold out performances at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw (October 23, 2019), Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie Kleine Saal (Feb 8, 2020), performed a livestream at Wigmore Hall on June 20, 2021 and has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered as well as CBS Sunday Morning.
For the 22/23 season, Chad will be joined by acclaimed violinist Judy Kang (Lady Gaga, Ryuichi Sakamoto) and cellist Seth Parker Woods (Sting, Peter Gabriel), and will perform a program that will bridge the gap between traditional and non-traditional audiences alike.
About Judy Kang
Hailing from Canada, Judy Kang is distinctly recognized for her individuality and unique career as a violinist and established soloist and chamber musician in the classical world as well as in the world of pop, indie, jazz, and hip hop music.
She graduated from Juilliard at 19, became the first graduate, with high honours, of the prestigious Artist Diploma at the Manhattan School of Music, and won the ‘Sylva Gelber’ Prize given to the most talented Canadian musician under 30. She has toured 6 continents and has performed in prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center, Suntory Hall and the Schubert Hall in Vienna.
Kang is a member of the acoustic trio of Ryuichi Sakamoto, and has collaborated with Lenny Kravitz, the Guarneri Quartet and was selected personally by pop icon Lady Gaga as her solo violinist at the MonsterBall World Tour.
Judy has been awarded the 1689 “Baumgartner” Stradivarius, through a generous donor.
About Seth Parker Woods
“… a groundbreaking new-music star both in the avant-garde and pop worlds.” -Mark Swed, LA Times
Hailed by The Guardian as ‘a cellist of power and grace’, cellist Seth Parker Woods has established a reputation as a versatile artist straddling several genres. He has performed with a wide range of collaborators from the Ictus Ensemble, Basel Sinfonietta, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s to Peter Gabriel or Sting. He serves as the Artist in Residence for the Kaufman Music Center in New York as well as guest artist at the Julliard School, and many other prestigious institutions across the country.
He has appeared in concert at the Royal Albert Hall – BBC Proms, the Ghent Festival, Musé d’art Moderne et Contemporain among many others, and recent awards include a SCASE artist grant, Earle Brown/Morton Feldman Foundation grant and McGill University-CIRMMT/IDMIL Visiting Researcher Residency.
Seth Parker Woods is a Pirastro Artist and endorses Pirastro Perpetual Strings worldwide.
Presented by Count Basie Center for the Arts
The Makin Waves Song of the Week is "ICE SS" by the Central Jersey punk act Sally Draper.
