Faculty member Andrew Cannestra ’20 revives Wieniawski works with new recording
Visiting Instructor of Music Andrew Cannestra ‘20 is returning to St. Olaf College with exciting news: he is releasing an album featuring works by 19th-century composer Józef Wieniawski — some of which have never been professionally recorded. The project will be released on the Naxos label in November 2025 as part of the Romantic Piano Series.
Cannestra was first captured by Wieniawski’s music during a sight-reading session, when he was struck by its emotional depth. That moment inspired him to bring attention to the underrecognized composer through his own interpretation, culminating in a recording of eight works.
In addition to his current teaching role at St. Olaf, Cannestra is a doctoral candidate at the University of Oregon. He also holds a degree from the Chicago College of Performing Arts (M.M.), and his career highlights include winning the grand prize at the 2021 Aeolian Classics Emerging Artist Competition, receiving the bronze medal at the 2024 Seattle International Piano Competition, and releasing his debut solo album Mystic Pool in 2022.
In this Q&A, Cannestra reflects on the origin of his recording project.
What was your journey like to reach this point of your career?
I graduated from St. Olaf in 2020, and, while I was a student here, I played in several ensembles, took piano lessons, and composed. During that time, I gradually came to realize that pursuing piano further was my calling. I actually recorded my first album while studying in Chicago — that experience is what got me interested in recording in the first place.
Along the way, I also became very interested in music that hasn’t been performed or heard as often as most standard repertoire — whether by female composers or composers of color, or others who have been historically overlooked.
What led you to pursue music, and piano specifically, as a career?
I’ve been playing the piano quite literally for as long as I can remember, and I never considered that anything else could be a possible path for me. I started taking lessons when I was four, but even before that, my parents just had a piano in the house that I apparently had a lot of curiosity in. Playing piano has always been the thing that no matter how long I spend doing it, I never get tired of it — whether it’s performing, teaching, or practicing.
How did you discover Józef Wieniawski’s body of work?
Józef Wieniawski was actually on a list of composers that Naxos was seeking pianists to record. When they first reached out to me about the possibility of recording for the Romantic Piano Series, I did some sight-reading through some selections by Wieniawski, and his pieces really spoke to me. From the first time I tried to play them, I could tell there was something special that the world needed to hear — and that I had something to say through it.
What is it about these works that moves you?
[Wieniawski’s] work has such a deeply expressive range to it. The pieces that I’m recording on the album span the whole kaleidoscope of human emotion. There’s absolute, unrivaled joy in the polonaises — these pieces that are exploring the national dance of Poland that is such a proud tradition. There’s also more tragic works like the ballade, in which each note is incredibly meaningful — the Sonata in B minor contains so much emotion. The whole range of different pieces selected for this album, I thought, presented a really compelling set.
What are you hoping listeners take away from this album?
There are two kinds of listeners I’m hoping to reach. The first being a more general audience — those who are just listening to these pieces because they find them interesting and more enjoyable; this could be any music lover who’s just looking for interesting, beautiful piano music that they’re not used to. The second side I’m especially interested in is potential performers, who might be looking for other ballades, polonaises, or piano sonatas from this era from composers in the same circles as Chopin and Liszt. If I can inspire even one or two pianists to take up some of these pieces, then I think I’ve done something right with this album.
What does your artistic process look like when preparing for a project like this?
The process of getting to record an album is not so different from the process of preparing for a recital — you want every single detail to be accounted for, to the point that you feel like if there was a recording, you would be proud of it. That being said, the recording process opens up your ear to so many more granular details. Having been through the process once, especially going through the process of reviewing and selecting the takes, it really led me to practice in a different way. From the beginning, I think in terms of not only the right notes and rhythms, but sound quality, phrasing, and overall narrative.
What was the experience like, the first time you got to play these pieces?
There’s nothing I love more than playing a piece for the first time, and thinking ahead to how I might grow with it in the coming months. When sight reading a piece for the first time, you’re taking it literally as it comes, from note to note — you can’t predict what happens next. In a way, even when you have played a piece 100 times, you need to remember a little bit of that curiosity you had from that very first read through. That helps so much in being able to still love the pieces as much as you did when you first saw it.
Can you describe what your time at St. Olaf was like?
I was in the St. Olaf Orchestra as the pianist for most of my time as a student here. It was — and I’m sure still is — such a tight-knit community where people love making music together. That passion for making music, that St. Olaf does so well, has really stayed with me ever since. The way we teach piano here — emphasizing not only technical precision but also the emotional impact on our audiences — is a big strength of the St. Olaf music department, and something that I’ve really been able to take with me since.
Now, as a professor at St Olaf, how are you using your experience to help your students reach similar heights?
For me, the biggest thing as a teacher is ensuring my students never lose sight of the inspiration — the ‘why’ behind the music. My teachers at St. Olaf modeled that so well, and it is something that I would love to pass down as well as I can to my students here.
Having been through this recording process, I also now listen to myself and to students in a different way. It helps me hold them to an even higher standard than they may have thought possible before, not only on the technically ‘correct’ side of things, but in every note having some sort of extra musical meaning.
All St. Olaf students, faculty, and staff can access Cannestra’s album through their subscription to the Naxos Music Library catalog beginning November 14. It will also be available on all streaming platforms and for purchase. Cannestra will perform a faculty recital in early spring, pairing several Wieniawski works with music by Chopin and Liszt.