Gerardo Teissonnière (born March 29, 1961 in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

) is a Puerto Rican

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Education

Gerardo Teissonnière studied at the Conservatory of Music in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

with

Jesús María Sanromá Jesús María Sanromá (November 7, 1902 – October 12, 1984) was a Puerto Rican pianist who is one of the 20th century's most accomplished and important pianists. In 1932 he gave the first North American performance of Maurice Ravel's Concert ...

and at the

Cleveland Institute of Music The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...

with

Vitya Vronsky Vronsky & Babin were regarded by many as one of the foremost duo-piano teams of the twentieth century. Vitya Vronsky (''Viktoria Mikhailovna Vronskaya'', 22 August 190928 June 1992) was born in the Crimean city of Yevpatoria, Russia. Victor Babin ...

( Vronsky & Babin), both disciples of

Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...

and Alfred Cortot, and at the Aspen Music Festival with Jeaneane Dowis, former assistant to

Rosina Lhévinne Rosina Lhévinne (née Bessie; March 29, 1880 – November 9, 1976) was a Russian pianist and famed pedagogue born in Kyiv, Russian Empire. Early life, education and family Rosina Bessie was the younger of two daughters of Maria (née Katz) and ...

at the Juilliard School. He also pursued post-graduate studies in Europe with

Dmitri Bashkirov Dmitri Aleksandrovich Bashkirov (russian: Дми́трий Алекса́ндрович Башки́ров; November 1, 1931 – March 7, 2021) was a Russian pianist and academic teacher. Trained in his hometown Tbilisi and Moscow, he began an in ...

and Joaquín Achúcarro.

Professional career

Since his American debut at th
National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Gerardo Teissonnière has given première performances of music by 20th-century composers such as Pablo Casals,

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

, Claude Debussy, Alberto Ginastera,

Lowell Liebermann Lowell Liebermann (born February 22, 1961 in New York City) is an American composer, pianist and conductor. Life and career At the age of sixteen, Liebermann performed at Carnegie Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, op. 1. He studied at the Juilliard ...

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

, Arvo Pärt and Heitor Villa-Lobos. In 2004 he embarked on a five-recital cycle presenting the complete Mozart piano sonatas. In 2005 he was invited to perform in Poland in conjunction with commemorative events of the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death and the fifteenth Chopin International Piano Competition. Teissonniere has recorded for the Steinway & Sons label and is
Steinway Artist
and faculty member of the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Awards and honors

Gerardo Teissonnière is a recipient of the Arthur Loesser Memorial Award and the 2008 Alumni Achievement Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2008 he was awarded the Judson Smart Living Award in Education. He has also been nominated for the Ohio Arts Council's Governors' Award for the Arts.

References

Hispanic American Biographies. Danbury, Conn: Grolier, 2006

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teissonniere, Gerardo 1961 births Living people Musicians from Ponce Puerto Rican classical pianists Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Cleveland Institute of Music alumni Cleveland Institute of Music faculty 21st-century classical pianists

Education

Professional career

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links