Guest Artist Bio
Kirill Gerstein
Recognized for his masterful technique and probing interpretations, Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein is quickly proving to be one of today's most intriguing young artists.
Gerstein’s recent and upcoming engagements in North America include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and the San Francisco, Dallas, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Vancouver, Oregon and Utah symphonies; the Mann Music Center and Saratoga Festival with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Blossom Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chicago’s Grant Park Festival; and recitals in Boston, New York, Cincinnati, Detroit, Vancouver, Kansas City, Portland and Washington. His most recent Oregon Symphony concerts were in February 2008, when he performed Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto.
Highlights of Gerstein’s 2009/10 North American season include debuts with the Chicago Symphony under Charles Dutoit and with the Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic; re-engagements with the Detroit, Houston and Oregon symphonies; and a tour with cellist Steven Isserlis that includes performances at the Kennedy Center and in San Francisco.
Born in 1979 in Voronezh, Russia, where he attended one of the country's special music schools for gifted children, Gerstein came to the United States at the age of 14 as the youngest student ever to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston to continue his studies in jazz piano. During his years at Berklee he continued to practice the classical piano repertoire and also attended the Boston University summer program at Tanglewood in 1995 and 1996. It was following his second summer at Tanglewood that he decided classical music would be his main focus. He moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Solomon Mikowsky and earned both his bachelor’s and masters degrees by the age of 20. Gerstein continued his studies in Madrid with Dmitri Bashkirov and Budapest with Ference Rados.
Gerstein received the First Prize at the 2001 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv and was a recipient of a 2002 Gilmore Young Artist Award. He was also selected as Carnegie Hall’s “Rising Star” for the 2005/06 season. He became an American citizen in 2003 and is currently professor of piano at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart.
More information on the web: kirillgerstein.com.