Canadian pianist and conductor Gregory Oh has always had commitment issues, and believes firmly in keeping his options open. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Toronto, where he completed his studies with Marietta Orlov as the top graduating pianist, and the University of Michigan, where he worked with Martin Katz.
From the keyboard he has premiered works by Andre Ristic, Walter Buczynski, Simon Bainbridge, Frederic Rzewski, James Rolfe, Nicole Lizee, Inouk Demers, Aaron Gervais, Andrew Staniland, Barbara Croall, Alice Ho, Chris Harman, Brian Current, Heather Schmidt, Stewart Goodyear, Quinsin Nachoff, Geof Holbrook, Juliet Palmer, Allison Cameron, Erik Ross, Andrew Downing, Alain Beauchesne and Veronika Krausas. He has appeared with the UTSO, the Graz Hochschule Orchestra, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London, the Brott Festival Orchestra and the Festival Players, and has given recitals throughout North America and Europe. As a chamber musician, he has shared the stage with musicians like Shauna Rolston, Patrick Gallois, Alain Trudel, Jens Lindemann, James Thompson, John Marcellus, Lorand Fenyves, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Mark Fewer, Michael Colvin, Allyson McHardy, Lori Freedman, NEXUS, Beverley Johnston, Noreen Burgess and Jean MacPhail.
He has served as music director of the San Diego Opera Ensemble, and has also worked with Florida State Opera, the University of Michigan Opera Program, Michigan Opera Works, Tapestry New Opera, Autumn Leaf and Lyric Opera San Diego. He has held faculty positions at the Banff Centre for the Arts, both in Music and Sound, and Theatre Arts, where he worked with the Contemporary Opera and Song Training Program. He recently joined the music staff of the Canadian Opera Company for their production of Janacek’s From the House of the Dead.
He is the artistic director of the highly acclaimed new music group Toca Loca with Simon Docking and Aiyun Huang, and “is clearly on his way, through performances, commissioning and programming, to making a lasting contribution to new music in this country.” (National Post – Canada). He is the conductor of Continuum Contemporary Music and has also conducted CONTACT, the McGill Percussion Ensemble, the CBC Kieser Gala and Companion Star in Sweden. As the keyboardist in uberband The Lollipop People he has played Pop Montreal, NXNE, Wavelength, Canadian Music Week, Galapagos, the Guelph Folk Festival, Suoni per il popolo and the Brampton Indie Arts Festival. He regularly tours with cabaret performer Patricia O’Callaghan all over North America.
He has also performed in the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Aberdeen Sound Festival, the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw, Festival of the Sound, Sound Symposium, the Colours of Music Festival, Festival Internationale de Musique Actuelle Victoriaville, soundaXis, the Wordless Music Series at the Lincoln Center, Toronto’s Nuit Blanche Festival, the Guelph Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Brave New Works, Esprit Orchestra, Nouvelle Ensemble Moderne, Arraymusic, Ergo and the Soulpepper Theatre Company. His performances are often heard on CBC Radio One and Radio Two, and seen on CBC Television, TV Ontario, BravoFACT and Bravo’s Live at the Rehearsal Hall.
With Akemi and Rachel Mercer, he has been invited to perform the entire cycle of Haydn’s Piano Trios for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. As a board member and the music committee co-chair of the Toronto Arts Council, he is committed to supporting the arts through civic action and engagement. He teaches at the University of Toronto, has spent the past two summers on faculty at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and is the contemporary music curator at Toronto’s Music Gallery. He spends his spare time trying to fix his bike and watching bad television.
Solo Performance Reviews
“Gregory Oh gives a superhuman interpretation of André Ristic’s keyboard-smashing avalanche of notes” – Toronto Star
“crystal clear tone, musical structure-conscious thinking, highly sensitive art of touch” – Graz Neue Zeit (Austria)
“exceptional performer…mesmerizing…intelligence and insight…a visceral sense of tempo, excellent voicing, a wonderful pianistic palette, and a warm, honest sound” – National Post