Photo by Rachel Papo
Photo by Jan Gates c/o Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Gilmore Piano Festival 2024. Photo by Chris McGuire Photography.
Photo by Jan Gates c/o Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Photo by Jan Gates c/o Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Counterpoint_1600x900-1
Photo by Richard Termine
Counterpoint_1600x900-2
Photo by Richard Termine
Tiny Desk Concert
At the Steinway Factory for the NY Philharmonic

“[Counterpoint] demands such a high level of presence and such a close attentiveness to one another. To me, it doesn’t feel removed from the classical tradition. You are given a score as a musician and you are interpreting a score every time and every night. Of course, that interpretation is formed by the work you have done ahead of time, by practicing and thinking and preparation. While all of that is true, the interpretation is actually taking flight anew for every single show.”

San Diego Tribune

“In this thoughtfully curated program, Tao’s Schoenberg waltz is followed by Ray Noble’s jazz standard “Cherokee,” Tao taking his inspiration from the 1953 Art Tatum recording, teasing with stops and starts and tempo shifts, Teicher high-kicking, puddle-jumping, ice-skating, suggesting a helicopter about to take off.”

Boston Globe - Boston Celebrity Series 2025

“Tao and Teicher entered the space very casually and addressed the audience as if in their living room…By the middle of the program a new language had been glimpsed and understood, a new language of pure rhythm that could delight, excite, caress and alarm…The soundscape produced by the two was magnificent and enveloping. The complexity of their ‘language’ was astounding and riveting”

LA Dance Chronicle – LA 2023

“By specifically returning Austro-German absolute music to the body and incorporating playfulness to a literature often thought of as cerebral and introspective, Caleb Teicher and Conrad Tao have developed something both new and profound.”

The Cusp – Boston 2025

“The unexpected and refreshing relatability of the introduction set the stage for the rest of the night, with “Counterpoint” defying every expectation and assumption that I had made about pianists and dancers…What set “Counterpoint” apart from other performances was not just the musical talent and passion of both Tao and Teicher, but the seamless integration of humor, empathy, and shared experience with the audience. Their refreshing chemistry with one another and the crowd, as well as their distinctive interpretations of traditional pieces, created a back-and-forth dynamic that made the show feel that much more alive.”

The Daily – Seattle 2025

“But so neatly does the tap and piano combine that you feel some sort of sixth sense must be at play, Tao and Teicher somehow knowing what the other wants, needs and is going to do, and being able to respond accordingly”

Seeing Dance – New York 2022

Counterpoint is a collaboration between pianist and composer Conrad Tao and choreographer and dancer Caleb Teicher. The duo explore the dichotomy of their different perspectives and artistic practices, expanding their individual expressive capacity through a collective experience. Harmonic, rhythmic, and theatrical counterpoint between the artists seeks to map out constellations linking their disparate traditions, driving the imagination and opening the heart. The stylistically diverse music of Counterpoint includes the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Art Tatum’s demented stride piano, Arnold Schoenberg’s ironic take on the Viennese waltz, a delicate miniature from Tao and Teicher’s More Forever, and threading it all together, a work that bridges traditions, approaches, and styles—Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Tao and Teicher’s earlier work, More Forever, is a Bessie Award-winning, New York Times critic’s pick which was lauded for “constantly extending the sonic aspects of dance.”

Conrad Tao has appeared worldwide as a pianist and composer. Born in Urbana, Illinois in 1994, Tao has performed as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony. As a composer, his work has been performed by orchestras throughout the world; his first large scale orchestral work, Everything Must Go, received its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic, and its European premiere with the Antwerp Symphony. He was the recipient of a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award, for Outstanding Sound Design / Music Composition, for his work on More Forever, in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Caleb Teicher. He is also the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and was named a Gilmore Young Artist.

Caleb Teicher is a NYC-based dancer and choreographer specializing in musically-driven dance traditions and interdisciplinary collaboration. Teicher began their career as a founding member of Michelle Dorrance’s tap dance company, Dorrance Dance, while also freelancing in contemporary dance (The Chase Brock Experience, The Bang Group), Lindy Hop (Syncopated City Dance Company), and musical theater (West Side Story International Tour and London). As a solo performer and collaborator, Teicher is known for choreographic collaborations with diverse musical talents: world-champion beatboxer Chris Celiz, composer/pianist Conrad Tao; the National Symphony Orchestra, and indie rock legends Ben Folds and Regina Spektor. In 2015, Caleb shifted their creative focus towards Caleb Teicher & Company (CT&Co), a creative home for incubating new concert dance works from Teicher’s unique perspective. Caleb is the recipient of a New York City Center Choreographic Fellowship, two Bessie Awards and a NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant.