Pianist and composer Andrew Cannestra first rose to prominence as the grand prize winner of the 2021 Aeolian Classics Emerging Artist Competition, where he was unanimously lauded by the jury for his “probing artistic vision”. He maintains an active performance schedule as both a soloist and a sought-after chamber musician and collaborator.

As a soloist, he won the bronze medal in the 2024 Seattle International Piano Competition. His discography includes two solo albums. The first, Mystic Pool, was released in 2022, featuring one of his own compositions alongside works by William Grant Still, Alexander Scriabin, Frederic Chopin, and Henri Dutilleux. More recently, he recorded eight rarely-heard works by Josef Wieniawski, which joined the Naxos catalogue in November 2025 as part of the Romantic Piano Series. He is passionate about programming music by living composers and historically under-represented composers alongside more familiar masterworks. For example, he gave the Oregon premiere of the Amy Beach Piano Concerto with the University of Oregon Symphony as well as the world premiere of Ryan Johnston’s Piano Concerto no. 1 with Boston-based Horizon Ensemble. In addition, he has given recitals at some of Chicago’s premier venues such as Guarneri Hall and Ganz Hall, and he was featured as guest artist for the recital series Henry Fogel Presents.

Andrew also regularly collaborates as both a chamber musician and duo partner, having performed with every standard orchestral instrument. He is a founding member of Oasis Ensemble with flutist Dawn Weiss and cellist Louis Lowenstein, a piano trio that performs regularly across the state of Oregon to high critical acclaim. He has shared the stage with members of the Emerson Quartet, Viano Quartet, Delgani Quartet, Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Montreal Symphony, and has been invited to perform chamber works at the Manchester Music Festival (VT), the Redwood Arts Council (CA), and live on All-Classical Radio (OR) and Vermont Public Radio. He has also served as orchestral keyboardist for the Oregon Bach Festival.

Equally accomplished as a composer, Andrew often performs his own solo piano music in concert. Recently, he completed Oregon Soundscapes, a cycle of piano works commissioned by the University of Oregon, which was premiered in spring 2025. Notable performances of his other works include a series of performances of Flight on the St. Olaf Orchestra’s most recent tour of Norway; a performance of Scherzo by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra at a community outreach concert; a performance of The Chronicles of Stumpy, the Squirrel Without a Tail by the St. Olaf Band; Elegy for orchestra, premiered by the St. Olaf Philharmonia; and a movement from String Quartet no. 1 premiered by the Artaria String Quartet. His music has also been featured in Peter Nelson’s award-winning animated film, Intruder Man. 

Andrew holds degrees from St. Olaf College (B. M.) and the Chicago College of Performing Arts (M. M.), and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Oregon. His previous teachers include Alexandre Dossin, David Riley, Adam Neiman, Christopher Atzinger, Kent McWilliams, Sylvia Wang, and Eun-Joo Kwak. 

Outside of music, Andrew enjoys hiking, fly fishing, tending his basil plants, and spending time with his wife, fellow pianist Kaitlyn Clawson-Cannestra.