Adam Tendler

Adam Tendler is an American pianist. He received a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his album Inheritances in 2025. He serves on the piano faculty at New York University's Steinhardt School. Life and career Tendler was born in Barre, Vermont. He earned a bachelor's degree in piano performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In 2009, he launched America 88x50, a self-organized tour of solo piano concerts in all fifty U.S. states. The project inspired his memoir 88x50, which was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award.

Tendler has appeared as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and others. He has commissioned works from composers such as Christian Wolff, Dev Hynes, Nico Muhly, Missy Mazzoli and Laurie Anderson. He has also contributed essays to The New York Times and New Music USA.

In 2019, following his father's death, Tendler used a cash inheritance to commission sixteen new short works for solo piano. It premiered in 2023 and has been performed across the United States. A recording was released by New Amsterdam Records in December 2024 and received a 2025 Grammy nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. Publications 2013 – 88x50: A Memoir of Sexual Discovery, Modern Music, and the United States of America 2024 – tidepools Selected discography 2005: Selected Live Performances 2008: Autumn Lines 2014: 88X50 2015: Solo and Chamber Music By Edward T. Cone 2019: Robert Palmer: Piano Music (New World Records) 2020: Franz Liszt: Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (with Jenny Lin, Steinway & Sons) 2023: Julius Eastman Vol. 3: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? (New Amsterdam Records) 2024: Inheritances (New Amsterdam Records)

Accolades 2014: Lambda Literary Award nominee 2022: Yvar Mikhashoff's Prize 2025: Grammy Nomination, Best Classical Instrumental Solo