montero_gabriela

Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique improvisational gifts have won her a devoted following around the world. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times, “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

Highlights from recent seasons include recitals given at Avery Fisher Hall, Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Cologne Philharmonie, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Herkulessaal, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Lisbon Gulbenkian Museum, Tokyo Orchard Hall and at the Edinburgh, Salzburg, Lucerne, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Saint-Denis, Dresden, Ruhr, Bergen, Istanbul and Lugano festivals.

Montero has also been invited to perform with many of the world’s most respected orchestras, including the Los Angeles, New York, Liverpool, Rotterdam and Dresden philharmonic orchestras; Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Atlanta and Toronto symphony orchestras; the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Zürcher Kammerorchester; the Cleveland, City of Birmingham Symphony, Philharmonia and Komische Oper Berlin orchestras; and the Vienna Symphony, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Residentie and Sydney Symphony orchestras.

Recent collaborators include conductors Leonard Slatkin, Sir Roger Norrington, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, James Gaffigan, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Claudio Abbado, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Mario Venzago, Vassily Petrenko, Peter Oundjian, Mikko Franck, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Jaime Martín, Marin Alsop, Kristjan Järvi, Pietari Inkinen and Patrick Lange.

Montero’s recent string of debuts continues into the 2014-2015 season, which features debut performances with the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as debut recitals at the Sydney Opera House, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Antwerp deSingel, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, Rheingau Musik Festival and Cheltenham Music Festival. She also returns to perform with the Houston, Pittsburgh and RTÉ National symphony orchestras, and to give recitals at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Wigmore Hall and at the Klavier Festival Ruhr.
In addition to her brilliant interpretations of the core piano repertoire, Montero is also celebrated for her ability to improvise, composing and playing new works in real time. She 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.” Whether in recital or following a concerto performance, Montero regularly invites her audiences to choose themes and ideas on which she improvises.

Montero has long held a desire to apply her abilities in improvisation and composition to larger ensembles and contexts. In 2011, she embarked on this new phase of her career by composing a tone poem for piano and orchestra, entitled ExPatria. Her piece had its world premiere tour in October of that year with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in London and in several German cities.

Montero is also an award-winning and best-selling recording artist. Her debut disc, Bach and Beyond, featured her own interpretations on themes by Bach and held the top spot on the Billboard Classical Charts for several months. She has won two Echo Klassik Awards: the 2006 Keyboard Instrumentalist of the Year and 2007 Award for Classical Music without Borders. She received a Grammy® nomination for her Bach and Beyond follow-up, Baroque, in 2008. Montero’s most recent recording, Solatino, inspired by her Venezuelan homeland, is devoted to works by Latin American composers and features her own interpretations on Latin themes.
Montero’s innovative perspectives have also been sought outside the sphere of classical music. She was recently chosen as a nominee for Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights by the Human Rights Foundation in recognition of her ongoing commitment to human rights issues, specifically in Venezuela. She was invited to participate in the 2013 Women of the World Festival, held at London’s Southbank Centre, and has spoken and performed twice at the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters (Switzerland). She was awarded the 2012 Rockefeller Award for her contributions to the arts and was a featured performer at Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Inauguration.

Born in Venezuela, Montero gave her first public performance at the age of five. At age eight, she made her concerto debut in her hometown of Caracas, which led to a scholarship from the government to study privately in the United States. She continued her studies under Hamish Milne at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with the highest honors. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.