Alum Conrad Tao Releases Album, Lands Spot on Forbes List and Earns Major Commission

17-year-old From the Top alum Conrad Tao is one to watch!  In addition to being profiled in the current issue of New York Magazine, Conrad’s first commercially available release is now on iTunes! His work is featured as part of “The Juilliard Sessions”–a series of CDs that’s a collaboration between Juilliard and EMI Classics that highlights Juilliard’s finest students.

Photo from iTunes.apple.com

Conrad performs Debussy, Stravinsky, and a few of his own works on the 8-track, iTunes exclusive CD that has so far received stellar reviews on iTunes.

Conrad was chosen for the 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award and its $15,000 prize. (Alum George Li with alum George Li, who performed on Show 144 in Boston, Massachusetts and From the Top’s first season of television is also a recipient.) He also received a spot in Forbes magazine’s “30 under 30” in the music category as the only classical musician beside pop stars such as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry.

Just last month, Conrad performed at Carnegie Hall in the concert “A Piece for Peace” with a great review from the New York Times. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra also recently commissioned Conrad to compose the commemoration piece for the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination next November.

Conrad first performed his own sonata with fellow pianist Peng-Peng Gong on From the Top Show 107 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at age 10. He later appeared on From the Top’s television series and on Show 232 in College Park, Maryland, where his beautiful piece “Eventide” was featured. Upon finishing Juilliard’s Pre-College Program, Conrad enrolled in the joint program with Columbia University and the Juilliard School.