In Conversation: Acclaimed American pianist Jonathan Biss discusses his experience of anxiety with psychologist Dr Tony Bates

Friday 28 March at the National Concert Hall 

The National Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce a post-concert In Conversation event between the acclaimed American pianist Jonathan Biss and psychologist and writer Dr Tony Bates following Jonathan’s performance of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Lio Kuokman on Friday 28 March at the National Concert Hall. In this post-concert event, Jonathan will discuss his experience of anxiety, what it taught him and what helped him come to terms with it. 

Jonathan Biss is recognized globally for his ‘impeccable taste and a formidable technique’ (The New Yorker). In 2020, he published his fourth book, Unquiet: My Life with Beethoven, in which he explores the interplay between his lifelong passion for the music of Beethoven and his own personal struggles with anxiety. The book was the first Audible Original by a classical musician and one of Audible’s top audiobooks of the year. 

Jonathan has had a lifelong relationship with Beethoven’s music since first encountering it as a young boy. In 2011 he embarked on a nine-year project to record all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas, observing that their ‘intensity and stubbornness and idealism send my own into overdrive’.  

Dr Tony Bates says: ‘For Jonathan Biss, the essence of his identity is that he is a musician. He describes being a concert pianist as a “strange and daunting” vocation that carries with it “the responsibility of bringing someone else’s notes – soul – to life”. This can take a lifetime, but one doesn’t have a lifetime as a professional musician. Whatever uncertainties or insecurities one may have, one has to perform. “Until you play, that soul stays silent. You have to play, or that audience hears nothing”.’  

‘He expected the Beethoven Piano Sonatas recording project to be “the most fulfilling experience of [his] life”, but he did not anticipate the latent anxieties that his journey would uncover. Although he tried to hide it for many years, there came the point where anxiety spilled over into full-blown panic attacks. When panic began to compromise his ability to perform, he had no choice but to come out of hiding and seek help. Jonathan has agreed to speak publicly with me about his experience of anxiety, what it taught him and what helped him come to terms with it. He does so to give hope to others, especially performers, who feel perplexed and alone in their struggles with anxiety.  

‘As a psychologist who has loved music all my life, performed once in the National Concert Hall and been stunned as an adolescent by concert pianists such as Barenboim and Brendel, this opportunity to interview Jonathan is an extraordinary privilege and a dream come true. Anxiety is the number one mental health issue for our age. His personal insights on how he overcame his panic offer a unique perspective which should speak to anyone who has been upended by fear.’ 

In Conversation with Jonathan Biss and Dr Tony Bates will take place in The Studio and will commence approximately 15 minutes after the conclusion of the 7.30pm performance. The event is free to concert ticket holders on a first come, first served basis. 

*All quotations, unless otherwise stated, are taken from Jonathan Biss’s Unquiet: My Life with Beethoven (Audible Originals, New York, 2020).  

 

Media Queries 

Assumpta Lawless, Marketing & Communications Manager, National Symphony Orchestra. 

Email: assumpta.lawless@nch.ie 

Mobile: 087 290 4168  

 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

JONATHAN BISS piano 

Pianist Jonathan Biss is recognized globally for his ‘impeccable taste and a formidable technique’ (New Yorker). Praised by The Boston Globe as ‘an eloquent and insightful music writer’, Biss published his fourth book, Unquiet: My Life with Beethoven, in 2020. The book was the first Audible Original by a classical musician and one of Audible’s top audiobooks of the year.  

Biss has appeared as a soloist with some of the world’s foremost orchestras, including  the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, Boston Symphony, London Symphony and more.  He has served as the Co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival alongside pianist Mitsuko Uchida since 2018. 

In 2020, Biss recorded Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas, and offered insights to all 32 landmark works via his free, online lecture series course, Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas. 

In 2024, Biss participated in Princeton University Concert’s Healing Through Music series, appearing alongside author Adam Haslett for a panel discussion on anxiety, depression, and creativity.  

Biss is the recipient of numerous honours, including the Leonard Bernstein Award, the Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, and a Gilmore Young Artist Award.  

His albums for EMI won the Diapason d’or de l’année and Edison awards. He was an Artist-in-Residence on American Public Media’s Performance Today, and was the first American chosen to participate in BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artist program. 

Biss is a third-generation professional musician; his grandmother is Raya Garbousova, one of the first famous female cellists (for whom Samuel Barber composed his Cello Concerto), and his parents are violinist Miriam Fried and violist/violinist Paul Biss. Growing up surrounded by music, Biss began his piano studies at age six, with his first musical collaborations alongside his mother and father. He studied with Evelyne Brancart at Indiana University, and Leon Fleisher at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

 

EVENT DETAILS: PERFORMANCE AND POST-CONCERT TALK 

Friday 28 March 2025, 7.30pm 

Main Stage, National Concert Hall 

National Symphony Orchestra 

Lio Kuokman conductor  
Jonathan Biss piano 

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1  
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique  

Post-concert  

In Conversation: Jonathan Biss, pianist and Dr Tony Bates, psychologist and writer, The Studio 

Jonathan Biss: Anxiety – My Experience 

Tickets: €15, €25, €29, €34.50, €39. 

Note: The In Conversation event is free to concert ticket holders on a first come, first served basis. 

 

In 2011 Jonathan Biss embarked on a nine-year project to record all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas.  

Dr Tony Bates says: ‘For Jonathan Biss, the essence of his identity is that he is a musician.  He expected the Beethoven Piano Sonatas recording project to be “the most fulfilling experience of [his] life”, but he did not anticipate the latent anxieties that his journey would uncover. When panic began to compromise his ability to perform, he had no choice but to come out of hiding and seek help. Jonathan has agreed to speak publicly with me about his experience of anxiety, what it taught him and what helped him come to terms with it. He does so to give hope to others, especially performers, who feel perplexed and alone in their struggles with anxiety.  

‘Anxiety is the number one mental health issue for our age. His personal insights on how he overcame his panic offer a unique perspective which should speak to anyone who has been upended by fear.’ 

Booking: Online: www.nch.ie / Telephone: 01 417 0000 

Full details: www. nch.ie 

 

About the National Concert Hall 

The National Concert Hall (NCH) is Ireland’s national cultural institution for music, proudly serving the Irish public since it opened in 1981 through live music performances and significant educational and cultural programmes. Based in the heart of Dublin’s city centre, next door to the picturesque Iveagh Gardens, the NCH is proud home to our National Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Chorus, Cór Linn and Cór na nÓg, as well as providing residence for a range of other music organisations including Chamber Choir Ireland, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Music Network, Crash Ensemble and Music Generation. It is currently planning for a major redevelopment of all its facilities as part of the National Development Plan and Project Ireland 2040. 

  

Faoi an Ceoláras Náisiúnta 

Is institiúid chultúrtha náisiúnta na hÉireann don cheol é an Ceoláras Náisiúnta, a fhreastalaíonn go bródúil ar phobal na hÉireann ó osclaíodh é i 1981 trí thaibhithe ceoil beo agus cláir shuntasacha oideachais agus chultúrtha. Lonnaithe i gcroílár Bhaile Átha Cliath, agus béal dorais le Gairdíní Uíbh Eachach, tá an Ceoláras Náisiúnta bródúil as ár gCeolfhoireann Shiansach Náisiúnta, Cór Siansach Náisiúnta, Cór Linn agus Cór na nÓg chomh maith le háit chónaithe a chur ar fáil do réimse eagraíochtaí ceoil eile lena n-áirítear Cór Aireagail Éireann, Ceolfhoireann Bharócach na hÉireann, Music Network, Crash Ensemble agus Music Generation. Tá sé i gceist faoi láthair athfhorbairt mór á dhéanamh ar na háiseanna go léir mar chuid den Phlean Forbartha Náisiúnta agus de Thionscadal Éireann 2040. 

 

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