Cliburn Concert: Gabriela Montero, Piano

“Montero’s playing has everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power in climactic moments, soulful lyricism in the ruminative passages and, best of all, unsentimental expressivity.” – The New York Times

When awarding her the 2023 Performance Today Classical Woman of the Year, American Public Media noted that Gabriela Montero is “a soulful artist at the piano, bringing out the beauty and humanity in a wide range of music, and a fervent composer of music that speaks to the joy and tumult of our times.”

Performances have taken her to many of the world’s most prestigious halls and orchestras. An award-winning recording artist and composer, she has combined the two, to outstanding results: her 2015 release, which includes her own Ex Patria and Improvisations, won the Latin Grammy® for Best Classical Album. And she is a powerful and eloquent champion for the people of her native Venezuela, often using the power of her gifts of composition and improvisation as a tool of creative dissent; her advocacy has earned recognition from the Human Rights Foundation, Beethoven Academy, and Amnesty International.

Now she returns to Cliburn Concerts for her first appearance in almost 15 years, this time in the lovely auspices of the Kimbell and under the Texas skies at the Post at River East. And she’ll be a closer part of the Cliburn Family very soon, as she joins the jury for the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and has been commissioned to write an original work to be performed by all 30 competitors in the Preliminary Round!