Gabriela Montero Plays at Glenn Gould Studio 4/1 & 4/2

Pianist Gabriela Montero brings her compelling interpretive and improvisational artistry to the Glenn Gould Studio for two performances on Wednesday April 1 and Thursday April 2, both at 8 pm. She will perform a selection of her Baroque-inspired improvisations along with improvisations built on suggestions from the audience.

Press note alerted that 'You may have seen Gabriela on TV as a member of the quartet that included Yo-Yo Ma, in John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" - moments before Barack Obama was sworn in as US President in January. This was only one of her many engagements this year. Highlights of her upcoming performances include appearances with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and WDR Sinfonieorchestre Köln, solo recitals in Copenhagen, Dresden and Vienna, and duo recitals with French cellist Gautier Capuçon in Munich, Bonn, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Paris and the Salzburg Festival".

Gabriela has appeared worldwide as soloist with major orchestras including New York Philharmonic with Lorin Maazel, Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, and UBS Verbier Chamber Orchestra at the Tuscan Sun Festival. She has given recitals at the Edinburgh Festival, Wigmore Hall, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Koln Philharmonie, Kennedy Centre Washington DC, National Arts Centre Ottawa, Orchard Hall Tokyo and at the 'Progetto Martha Argerich' Festival in Lugano where she is invited annually.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Gabriela gave her first public performance at the age of five and made her concerto debut at eight with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. She was later granted a scholarship from the Venezuelan Government to study in the US. At twelve she won the Baldwin National Competition and AMSA Young Artist International Competition, performing Tchaikovsky's first Piano Concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In 1995 she won the Bronze Medal at the 13th International Chopin Piano Competition.

Gabriela has released three CDs. Her most recent, Baroque, was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Crossover Album and delves into her unique ability at Baroque-inspired improvisations. "Every piece on this recording was created on the spot," she says. "The process that these improvisations go through is as much a puzzle to me as it is to everyone who asks me: ‘How do you do it?' I don't know, and I think I prefer it that way."

To hear Gabriela improvise live on the internet, go to www.gabrielamontero.com.

Both performances are sponsored by XM Satellite Radio at Glenn Gould Studio

Share the Music: Fifty music students will be provided with tickets to the April 1st performance, compliments of the Corporation's Share the Music program, and will also attend a pre-concert workshop with Gabriela Montero.