Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero

Montero at Sala São Paulo, by Eduardo Tardin
Born (1970-05-10) May 10, 1970
Caracas, Venezuela

Gabriela Montero (born May 10, 1970 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan pianist, known in particular for her real-time improvisation of complex musical pieces on themes suggested by her audience and other sources, as well as for performances of standard classical repertoire.

Biography

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, of an American-born mother and a Venezuelan father, Gabriela Montero was barely a seven-month-old infant when her parents, at the insistence of her maternal grandmother, placed a toy piano in her playpen. It had been bought as a Christmas present for an older cousin. The baby immediately lifted her right index finger and went on to play individual notes, never once banging it with her fist, to the great surprise of her parents and grandmother. It became her favorite toy. She was put to sleep every night by her mother who sang to her the melody of the Venezuelan National Anthem, a tradition in the South American country. One day when she was fifteen months old, her parents noticed she was picking out a familiar tune on the little piano. Three months later, before she could even speak, she had picked out by herself the entire melody of the National Anthem. From then on she would repeat this process with whatever song she heard.

She played at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009 and now lives in Barcelona, Spain. During a break in her concert, after taking requests from the audience and improvising on them, Montero told the audience Venezuela was facing a "very, very critical time". It was "one of our great tragedies" she said, adding that few outside the country understood what was going on in Venezuela. She referenced a high murder rate and, to applause, mourned what she called "the loss of our country to violence, to corruption and to the worst possible things you can imagine." Montero has been outspoken in her support for those who have challenged the government in Venezuela and has deplored the state of the country and the crackdown on protesters.

Musical education

Montero began formal piano lessons at age four with Lyl Tiempo, an Argentinian piano teacher who resided in Caracas, and gave her first public performance at the age of five. Aged eight, she made her concerto debut at the National Theater in Caracas performing the complete Haydn D Major Piano Concerto with the Orquesta Nacional Juvenil de Venezuela (National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela), conducted by Jose Antonio Abreu. This was the original youth orchestra created by Abreu in 1976, which would much later evolve into the orchestra presently known as the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, an integral part of El Sistema, now known worldwide. At the age of nine, she was awarded a scholarship from the Venezuelan government to study in the US. From 1990 until 1993, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Professor Hamish Milne.[1][2][3]

Concerts

From her first contact with a piano, Montero has always improvised and she decided to make it public at the behest of Martha Argerich, who told her not to be afraid whether people would find it improper or not.

In both recital and after performing a concerto, Montero often invites her audience to participate in asking for a melody for improvisations. At times, also the orchestra may suggest a theme. "When improvising," Montero says, "I connect to my audience in a completely unique way – and they connect with me. Because improvisation is such a huge part of who I am, it is the most natural and spontaneous way I can express myself. I have been improvising since my hands first touched the keyboard, but for many years I kept this aspect of my playing secret. Then Martha Argerich overheard me improvising one day and was ecstatic. In fact, it was Martha who persuaded me that it was possible to combine my career as a serious ‘classical’ artist with the side of me that is rather unusual."

Montero's future and recent engagements include her acclaimed performances with the New York Philharmonic debut with Lorin Maazel, Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, Rotterdam Philharmonisch Orkest at De Doelen and NDR Hanover at the Bergen Festival. In recital, her engagements include the Edinburgh Festival, Vienna Konzerthaus, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Cologne Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Konzerthaus Berlin, Alte Sendersaal Frankfurt, Kennedy Centre Washington, D.C., and at the ‘Progetto Martha Argerich’ Festival in Lugano where she is invited annually.

Montero performed John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Anthony McGill at the inauguration of U.S. president Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. Although the music played was a recording made two days prior due to concerns over the cold weather damaging the instruments.[4]

Montero has a long-established duo partnership with the French cellist Gautier Capuçon and they appeared at the 2009 Salzburg Festival and toured Germany in 2009 including engagements in Munich, Bonn, Hamburg, Dortmund and Heidelberg in April 2009 as well as the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, in May 2009. Future duo engagements in 2010 include the Vienna Konzerthaus, Braunschweig Festival, Beethoven Bonn Festival and Opéra de Lille.

Awards for CD releases

Montero's first CD release consisted of one disc of music by Rachmaninov, Chopin, and Liszt, and a second of improvisations. Her CD Bach and Beyond contains improvisations on Bach themes, and topped the charts for several months. In February 2008, her follow-up recording of improvisations, Baroque, received 5-star reviews from BBC Music Magazine and Classic FM.

Montero's Bach and Beyond was given the "Choc de la musique de l'année" award in 2006 from the French magazine Le Monde de la Musique. She also received the Keyboard Instrumentalist of the Year award at the ECHO Preis Award in Munich. In 2007, ECHO Preis awarded her the Klassik-ohne-Grenzen Award for her Bach and Beyond CD. In 2009, her album Baroque was nominated for a Grammy Award in two categories (Best Crossover Category and Best Producer Category). Her most recent album (2015) - featuring her own composition for piano and orchestra "Ex Patria", Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2, and 3 freestyle improvisations - won the Grammy for Best Classical Album at the 2015 Latin Grammy Awards. She has also been profiled on CBS's 60 Minutes in a segment entitled "The Gift".

Discography

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Dybowski, Stanisław (2003). "Gabriela Montero". Poland: Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "Gabriela Montero". New York Philharmonic. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "Montero, Gabriela". MUSO. 1 June 2008. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Quartet pre-recorded Obama music. BBC News (January 23, 2009).

Sources

"Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero mourns 'loss of our country' - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 2015-10-22. 

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