Gabriela Montero 2009-10 Season Preview
This promises to be a groundbreaking season
for Venezuelan-American pianist Gabriela
Montero, as she continues to impress, delight and make new fans in
performances with major orchestras and in chamber and solo recitals. Already an artist in demand, Montero
spends her 2009-10 season exploring some of the keyboard’s most celebrated
repertoire while taking audiences on a uniquely stimulating journey with her
trademark improvisations. Her season
kicks off with the opening-night gala concert of the Indianapolis Symphony
Orchestra; in other highlights she makes two important debuts with American
orchestras, and performs a series of recitals around North America including a
stop in Georgia at the widely eclectic and celebrated Savannah Music Festival.
Montero begins her season opening the
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s, in a gala concert led by conductor Raymond
Leppard. On this program of
American music, Montero will play George Gershwin’s beloved Rhapsody In Blue. When she performed this work last
season with the orchestra, the Indianapolis
Star raved that she “phrased like a singer. She never lost sight of
Gershwin’s genius as a songwriter and his empowering spontaneity of
expression.” Montero will also perform
John Williams’s Air and Simple Gifts,
a chamber piece that she premiered at Barack
Obama’s inauguration withYo-Yo Ma and Itzhak
Perlman. Academy Award-winning actor F.
Murray Abraham will join Montero and the orchestra in the gala concert on
September 25 (to be repeated the following evening) when he narrates Aaron
Copland’s Lincoln Portrait.
This
season, Gabriela Montero makes two important debuts with American orchestras.
First she will perform Mozart’s Piano
Concerto No. 21 with the Seattle
Symphony Orchestra under Arild Remmereit. In February, Montero makes her debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra when she
joins conductor Thomas Wilkins for performances of Grieg’s evergreen Piano
Concerto – and offers up several improvisations for dessert. Her U.S. orchestral engagements also
include a return visit to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in April, when she
will play Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
In both the fall and the spring,
Montero will give a series of solo recitals in the U.S. and Canada, including
performances in March at the Savannah
Music Festival. On March 24, she will play a program of solo piano works,
and the following day she will present a chamber music recital with French
cellist Gautier Capuçon, Montero’s friend
and frequent collaborator. Montero should fit in well at the eclectic festival,
which is celebrated for its adventurous and genre-mashing programs. In addition to her performances in North
America, Montero continues to have a busy schedule in Europe. In February, she will be in the
Netherlands for four performances of Mendelssohn’s First Piano Concerto with
the Rotterdam
Philharmonic and conductor James Gaffigan. A month later, Montero will be back in
Europe to work with celebrated violinist Gidon Kremer and his chamber orchestra
Kremerata
Baltica.
Another highlight of Montero’s season will be a European recital tour in
May with Gautier Capuçon.
Previous season highlights
The
2008-2009 season was a stellar and historic one for Gabriela Montero. On January 20, in Washington D.C., she
performed with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and clarinetist
Anthony McGill to a worldwide audience at President Obama’s inauguration. The summer was filled with debuts at
several of the world’s most prestigious festivals and orchestras, with
performances in North America, South America, and Europe. In July, she made her debut with the
San Francisco Symphony playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody
in Blue. She also made two
important festival debuts in August with a pair of recitals: first with French
cellist Gautier Capuçonat the
Salzburg Festival, and then back in the U.S. at the Ravinia Festival with a
solo recital featuring music by Bach and Ginestera as well as
several improvisations.
Recording career on EMI
Classics
Montero
drew many new fans with the release of her debut CD on EMI Classics, Bach
and Beyond, in September 2006.
This Billboard bestseller
introduced listeners to her unique blend of traditional concert repertoire and dazzling
improvisations. Her follow-up
album, Baroque, also pairing traditional fare with improvisation,
garnered two Grammynominations (for Best Classical Crossover Album and Best
Producer). On her most recent
recording, Rhapsody, Montero is
joined by Gautier Capuçon playing cello sonatas by Prokofiev and
Rachmaninov. The San Francisco Chronicle gave the album
its top rating, noting:
“For once, here’s a CD with cover art emphasizing the
hot looks of the performers that actually has some bearing on the music. French cellist Gautier Capuçon and
Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero have put their heads and hands together for
a positively steamy romp through two great Russian cello sonatas, and the
results are remarkable.”
Montero
continues to record exclusively for EMI Classics.
Gabriela Montero:
2009-2010 key engagements
September 20
Solo recital + classical improvisation
Ithaca, NY
September 25 & 26
Indianapolis, IN
Gershwin: Rhapsody in
Blue
John Williams: Airs
& Simple Gifts
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra / Raymond Leppard
September 30
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, Op.18
Repertoire for piano solo (including improvisations)
Edmonton Symphony Society / Bill Eddins
October 6
Fort Worth, TX
Solo recital
October 8
Clarksville, TN
Solo recital
October 10
Birmingham, AL
Solo recital
November 4
Calgary, AB, Canada
Solo recital
November 19, 20, 21 & 22
Seattle, WA
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 K. 467
Seattle Symphony Orchestra / Arild Remmereit
December 3
Waterloo, ON, Canada
Solo recital
February 12-14
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra / James Gaffigan
February 26, 27 & 28
Detroit, MI
Grieg: Piano Concerto, + classical improvisations
Detroit Symphony Orchestra / Thomas Wilkins
March 5-10
European tour with Kremerata Baltica
March 24
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
Solo recital
March 25
Savannah, GA
Savannah Music Festival
With Gautier Capuçon, cello
March 27
Fullerton, CA
Solo recital
April 9 & 10
Cincinnati, OH
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra / Mikko Franck
May 16- 21
European recital tour with Gautier Capuçon
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© 21C Media Group, September 2009