Alastair Edmonstone

A native of Perth, Scotland, pianist Alastair Edmonstone has performed as soloist, collaborative pianist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Africa. He made his New York recital debut in 2015 performing the Brahms Horn Trio with legendary hornist David Jolley at Weill Hall (Carnegie Hall). Additional notable performances include recitals at the Ghent Conservatorium, Boston’s Jordan Hall, University of Maryland, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Seattle Art Museum, and in the UK at Birmingham Conservatoire and the University of Edinburgh. He will return to New York in April 2023 to perform a recital at Columbia University with CSUSB colleague Stacey Fraser.

A leading interpreter of modern music, Edmonstone has collaborated with composers such as Jonathan Harvey, Lee Hyla, Huck Hodge, Gunther Schuller and Yii Ka Hoe. Championing challenging works of the 20th and 21st Century repertoire, he gave the Seattle premier of Luciano Berio’s Sonata per pianoforte solo, the Boston premier of Gunther Schuller’s Grand Concerto for Percussion and Keyboards, which he subsequently recorded for Naxos records, and over a dozen performances of Olivier Messiaen’s legendary piano cycle Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus.

As chamber musician, Edmonstone has performed with current and former members of the Baltimore and Boston Symphony Orchestras, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Orpheus Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic and Canadian Brass. As collaborative artist he has worked extensively with many celebrated singers including Stacey Fraser, Vinson Cole, Jane Eaglen, and Marquita Lister. He is featured alongside soprano Lousie Toppin (University of Michigan) and countertenor Darryl Taylor (University of California) on a forthcoming anthology of contemporary African American art songs to be released by Videmus Records.

As Keyboard Collaborative Artist and Music Director of Opera Theater at California State University, San Bernardino since 2016, he has music directed many innovative works including the first abridged university production of Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass. Additional musical direction credits include a film adaptation of Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar, Kurt Weill’s Down In The Valley, John Adams’ I was looking at the Ceiling and the I saw the Sky, Tango by Robert Xavier Rodriguez, Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, and most recently The Book of Longing by Philip Glass and Leonard Cohen.

He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston. He earned his undergraduate degree from Birmingham Conservatoire (England) where he returned as Principal Repetiteur from 2012-2014, working alongside Lionel Friend of English National Opera. He has also held faculty positions at Towson University (Maryland), Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) and was a visiting lecturer at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music during the 2021-22 academic year.