Pianist James Lent is winning acclaim for the exquisite sensitivity and vibrant energy of his playing. A top winner, Nathan Wedeen Award of the 1999 Concert Artists Guild Competition, where he also won the WQXR Prize, Mr. Lent is the recipient of numerous competition honors and awards. Most recently, he was a prize winner at the 2000 National Chopin Competition. He has also won top prizes at the 1999 and 1996 Washington International Piano Competitions, the Olga Koussevitsky Piano Competition and the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg National Young Artist Competition.

In the 2001-2002 season, Mr. Lent will make his Utah Symphony debut in performances of Prokofiev's Concerto No. 3 under the baton of Scott O'Neil. He will also make recital appearances at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he will give the world premiere of a new work written for him by noted composer Frederic Rzewsk, for the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, and will also perform over 25 recitals across the United States including appearances in California, Oregon, and throughout Texas. The 2000-2001 season includes his European debut at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany, performances of Rhapsody in Blue with the Ocean City Pops, the United States premiere of Vine's Sonata for Flute and Piano with Ransom Wilson, a chamber music appearance at New York's Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse, a week of residence at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, performances with Carol Wincenc and Charles Neidich, and recitals throughout the United States. In the 1999-2000 season, Mr. Lent made his Boston recital debut at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, his Concert Artists Guild debut recital at New York's Kosciuszko Foundation, and a recital tour of the northwestern United States. In November 1999, Mr. Lent was invited to participate in the Pierre Boulez Workshop for Instrumentalists and Conductors at Carnegie Hal. He performed with the renowned Ensemble Intercontemporain under the direction of Maestro Boulez in a sold-out concert at Weill Recital Hall.

Mr. Lent's orchestral appearances include the Vancouver Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Shanghai Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, among others. His recital appearances include venues such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall in New York, Jones Hall in Houston, and La Scala Chopin in Mexico City. His performances have been heard on New York's WQXR, National Public Radio's Performance Today, KUHF's Houston in Concert, and KRTS's Houston Symphony Series.

Mr. Lent was a fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. He recently served a second summer on the Associate Piano Faculty of the Sarasota Music Festival. In 2000, he served for a fourth summer on the faculty of the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts where he also serves on the visiting artists faculty throughout the year.

Mr. Lent is a native of Houston where he attended the Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the University of Houston. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Yale University School of Music in the fall of 2000. His teachers have included Boris Berman, Susan Starr, Nancy Weems, Peter Frankl, and Claude Frank.

Mr. Lent currently resides in New York City.