Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Pratt began studying piano at the age of six, the violin at nine and conducting at 16 at the University of Illinois. At the Peabody Conservatory of Music he became the first student to receive diplomas in all three areas.

In 1992 Mr. Pratt won the Naumburg International Piano Competition and two years later the Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has played throughout the US including Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, performed with the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, National, Detroit and New Jersey Symphonies. Summer festival engagements include Ravinia, Blossom, Wolf Trap, Caramoor and Aspen, the Hollywood Bowl and the Mostly Mozart Festival in Tokyo.

A strong advocate of music education, Awadagin Pratt participates in numerous residency and outreach activities: master classes, children's recitals, play/talk demonstrations, question/answer sessions.

Awadagin was named one of the 50 Leaders of Tomorrow in Ebony Magazine's 50th anniversary issue. He has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America and Sesame Street; been profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and was a featured soloist on PBS's "Live from the Kennedy Center - A Salute to Slava."

He is currently Associate Professor of Piano and Artist in Residence at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.