Grammy-nominated pianist Ursula Oppens is joined by virtuoso Adam Tendler for an extremely rare performance of Braxton’s Composition 95, first recorded by Oppens and Frederic Rzewski in 1982

The evening will be opened with a performance of Braxton’s Composition 38 by Darius Jones and Cecilia Lopez.

This event is a cross section of two of Roulette’s 2025 series—the first, The Music of Anthony Braxton, in honor of the composer’s 80th birthday year. Earlier in 2025 Roulette honored Braxton at our annual Gala; The Music of Anthony Braxton is a four-part series throughout November that continues our celebration of Braxton’s incomparable and ongoing contributions to creative music spanning more than half a century. The second series is Music for Two Pianos: four consecutive nights featuring new, historic, and reimagined compositions by some of the great composers of our time: Anthony Braxton; Robert Ashley and “Blue” Gene Tyranny; Henry Threadgill; and Julius Eastman.

Heralded as “queen of contemporary music” by Zachary Woolfe on the New York Times, Ursula Oppens, a legend among American pianists, is widely admired particularly for her original and perceptive readings of new music, but also for her knowing interpretations of the standard repertoire. With five Grammy nominations to her credit, Ms. Oppens established her reputation early on with a classic recording of Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated. No other artist alive today has commissioned and premiered more new works for the piano that have entered the permanent repertoire.

As guest soloist, Ms. Oppens has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, and London Philharmonic Orchestras, among others, and has collaborated with the Arditti, Cassatt, Juilliard, and Pacifica quartets.

Oppens teaches at Mannes College, and is a Distinguished Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.

Adam Tendler has been called a “daring pianist” of “adventurousness and muscular skill” (The New York Times), “the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene” (Minneapolis Star Tribune), a “relentlessly adventurous” (Washington Post), “remarkable and insightful musician” (LA Times), an “intrepid… maverick pianist” (The New Yorker), a “new music evangelist” (Time Out NY), and “one of contemporary classical music’s most intentional and daring pianists” (Seven Days). A pioneer of DIY culture in classical music, he has since become one of classical music’s most recognized and celebrated artists, receiving Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award, the Yvar Mikhashoff Prize, and appearing as soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, LA Phil, Sydney Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, NJ Symphony, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and on the main-stages of Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Centre, Sydney Opera House, BAM, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Milan Fashion Week, and other leading series and stages worldwide.

As a recording artist, Tendler is featured on Wild Up’s GRAMMY-nominated third volume of Julius Eastman’s music, and has released albums, including his own original work. His commissions range from major works by Christian Wolff to Devonté Hynes, and he recently commissioned and recorded Inheritances, a program of 16 new pieces using the entire inheritance left to him after his father’s unexpected death, including works by Laurie Anderson, Nico Muhly, and Missy Mazzoli. Of the album, the New York Times wrote, “You will be moved, profoundly and intensely. Tendler’s 2024 immersive installation, Exit Strategy, as Green-wood Cemetery’s artist in residence, received national attention and engaged hundreds of contributing community members. He is the author of two books, a Yamaha Artist, and serves on the piano faculty of NYU.

Cecilia Lopez is a composer, improviser, and multimedia artist from Buenos Aires, currently based in New York City. Her interdisciplinary work spans performance, installation, and sound sculpture, often involving the creation of original electronic sound systems and devices.

Lopez’s work has been presented internationally at venues such as the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (Argentina), the Center for Contemporary Arts (Vilnius, Lithuania), Ostrava Days Festival (Czech Republic), Kunstnernes Hus (Oslo, Norway), and the XIV Cuenca Biennial (Ecuador). In the United States, her work has been featured at MASS MoCA, The Guggenheim Museum, Experimental Intermedia, Fridman Gallery, Roulette Intermedium, Issue Project Room, and Lincoln Center, among others.

She has received numerous awards and grants, including an Individual Project Grant and a Media Arts Assistance Fund (MAAF) grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, a Jerome Foundation grant, and a commission from Roulette Intermedium. In 2015, she was a fellow at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation and has participated in various international artist residencies.

Lopez holds an MFA in Music/Sound from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College and an MA in Composition from Wesleyan University. She has collaborated with a diverse range of artists including Carmen Baliero, John Driscoll, Carrie Schneider, Ingrid Laubrock, and Zeena Parkins.