Bourgie Hall presents

Kirill Gerstein, piano

Praised for his prodigious technique, intelligence, and for his energetic and imaginative presence, Kirill Gerstein is a star in the pantheon of pianists of our time. We will have the pleasure of hearing him in a program allying exuberance and mysticism.

Fascination for musical discovery combined with boundless curiosity, imagination, and virtuosity have established Kirill Gerstein as one of today’s most prolific and compelling performers. Gerstein is a searching artist. As a pianist, curator, educator, musical leader, and artistic collaborator, his exploration of resonant themes across a vast spectrum of repertoire – from Baroque suites and Classical concerti to contemporary creations, jazz, and cabaret – has nourished relationships with many of the world’s leading orchestras, conductors, instrumentalists, singers, composers, festivals, recording labels, and media platforms.

Most recently, Gerstein was Artist-in-Residence with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Spotlight Artist with the London Symphony Orchestra, Resident Artist at the Festival Aix-en-Provence, and curated a three-part “Busoni and his World” concert series at London’s Wigmore Hall. He also released an acclaimed album with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko celebrating Rachmaninov’s 150th anniversary, presented, alongside jazz master, Brad Mehldau, an innovative program contrasting composed and improvised music as part of his residency at the Ruhr Piano Festival, and, at Tanglewood, performed Berlin cabaret songs of the 1920s with iconic performance artist and composer, HK Gruber.

Born in 1979 in Voronezh, Russia, Gerstein attended one of the country’s special music schools for gifted children and taught himself to play jazz at home by listening to his parents’ record collection. Following a chance encounter with Gary Burton in St. Petersburg when he was 14, he was invited as the youngest student to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. At the age of 16, Gerstein completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at New York’s Manhattan School of Music, followed by further studies with Dmitri Bashkirov in Madrid and Ferenc Rados in Budapest. First Prize winner at the 10th Arthur Rubinstein Competition, in 2010, Gerstein received the prestigious Gilmore Artist Award, as well as an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music in 2021.

Program
R.SCHUMANN Carnaval, Op. 9
RAVEL La valse
Francisco COLL Waltzes Toward Civilization (after Federico García Lorca’s Poet in New York)
LISZT
Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude, S.173/3
Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178

Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 7:30pm
To purchase your tickets, visit: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/bourgie-hall/