About

Andrej Grilc

Short Bio

Percussionist Oliver Xu has been internationally recognized as a solo performer advocating for contemporary music. Based in NYC, he was a 2023-25 fellow of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. A co-founder of Coriolis Duo, he has commissioned, premiered, and recorded new works for flute and percussion by composers such as Hannah Ishizaki and Ted Babcock.

In recent seasons, Oliver has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Met Cloisters, Madrid’s Museo Reina Sofía, and Shanghai’s Shangyin Opera House, as well as been featured on festivals such as Carnegie Hall’s Citywide and Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City. He has performed with groups such as the Kansas City Symphony, Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, New York Classical Players, and Metropolis Ensemble.

Oliver graduated from The Juilliard School with a Master of Music, where he studied with Daniel Druckman and was awarded the Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant upon graduation.

Long Bio

Percussionist Oliver Xu has been internationally recognized as a solo performer advocating for contemporary music. Based in NYC, he was a 2023-25 fellow of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, a renowned program for extraordinary young professional classical musicians who are passionate about integrating education and community engagement into their performing lives. A co-founder of Coriolis Duo, he has commissioned, premiered, and recorded new works for flute and percussion by composers such as Hannah Ishizaki and Ted Babcock.

In recent seasons, Oliver has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Met Cloisters, Madrid’s Museo Reina Sofía, and Shanghai’s Shangyin Opera House, as well as been featured on festivals such as Carnegie Hall’s Citywide and Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City. He has performed with groups such as the Kansas City Symphony, Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Manhattan Chamber Players, New York Classical Players, and Metropolis Ensemble. He has collaborated with conductors such as Matthias Pintscher, Marin Alsop, David Robertson, and Susanna Mälkki.

Oliver has won prizes at the Sixth IPEA International Percussion Competition, the TROMP International Percussion Competition, the Percussive Arts Society Solo Artist Competition, and the Great Plains International Marimba Competition. In 2019, he was selected as one of six semi-finalists at the 74th Geneva International Music Competition.

A dedicated educator, Oliver taught at P.S. 21 in Flushing through Ensemble Connect and has given masterclasses at the Eastman School of Music, Colorado State University, University of Central Florida, and University of North Florida. In recent years, he has taught orchestral percussion and coached percussion ensembles at Fordham University and Hunter College.

Oliver graduated from The Juilliard School with a Master of Music, where he studied with Daniel Druckman and was awarded the Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant upon graduation. He graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance as a Lois S. Rogers Scholar from the Eastman School for Music, where he studied with Michael Burritt. He has a strong interest in non-western music, having studied mbira with Dr. Jennifer Kyker and mridangam with Dr. Rohan Krishnamurthy. He also received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Rochester, where he was awarded the Robert L. Wells Prize by the Hajim School of Engineering, which recognizes excellence in both engineering and humanities.

Oliver is proud to endorse Marimba One, Zildjian, and Black Swamp Percussion products.

Ensemble Connect closes the season with brass ablaze in an all-American program

There were smooth, cool sounds from Pogossian, Tung and Seder, but Xu was an attention grabber on par with Gagnon, whether causally strumming a washboard or wreaking havoc on a drum set in the tale’s finale.

Marin Alsop and Ensemble Connect explore demanding American chamber works

Oliver Xu kept a steady serenity with the myriad percussion instruments he was required to play, sometimes without even a pause between. Rotae Passionis was full of moody dialogue – angry, curious, sorrowful and contemplative – and an emotionally jarring section of gradually intensifying wood-like sounds lingers with me. To the very end, the ensemble covered the work’s harrowing demands with uninhibited perfection, and I am sure I was not the only one left with a case of goosebumps.

Ensemble Connect premieres works by Katherine Balch in an eclectic program

They embraced the colorful frenzy of ‘musica nuvola’ with its stops and starts and hairpin turns. In contrast, ‘musica nuvola’ began with dark tremolos in the vibraphone, followed by a meandering, questioning oboe solo. Both scores abound in musical colors, but the eye and ear were repeatedly drawn to Xu, whether he was popping bubble wrap or conjuring sound from water.

Ensemble Connect turns up the heat with an exciting program of contemporary Latin American music

Luciérnagas is scored for clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and cello. The players created a musical picture buzzing with ever-changing rhythms, textures and colors. Those sounds could be annoying, such as violinist Mari Lee’s replication of a mosquito that keeps you from sleeping; or dark and ominous, as produced by Yasmina Spiegelberg on the bass clarinet. Others, however, were brilliant, such as Oliver Xu’s marimba solo.

In Light echoes, Velazquez creates outbursts of sound that provide structure as well as the contrast between the brilliance of light and the darkness of outer space. Joanne Kang is a superb pianist, but Xu was outstanding in a performance that combined athleticism, coordination and graceful playing in an amazing battery of percussion instruments.

Juilliard School’s AXIOM performs Boulez, Singleton and Messiaen

The poetic inspiration of the music meant for the composer something static, in the sense of a tableaux, but still full of energy. The latter comes from the concerto-like solo parts for piano, played by Ryan Jung, and two percussionists playing xylophone and marimba, Oliver Xu and Simon Herron.

The soloists were sharp as tacks, Jung in particular playing with agility and strength.

Concours de Genève Semi-Finalist Announcement

Geneva, November 16, 2019 – The Jury has just announced the results of the second percussion round of the 74th Geneva Competition, a selection round among the 15 percussionists from the second round. Six candidates have been chosen to participate in the semi-final of the Percussion Competition, which will take place this Monday, November 18.

Wells Award winners excel in engineering and humanities

The three undergraduate seniors who are recipients of this year’s Wells Award have different reasons for studying both engineering and the humanities.

But Andrew Howard ’19, Oliver Xu ’20, and Yiting Zhang ’19 have at least one thing in common: They have all excelled in their studies.

The award, presented by the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, recognizes seniors who are majoring in an engineering discipline, while also pursuing a major or minor in one of the humanities. Winners are chosen based on those with the highest GPAs at the end of their junior year.