Horacio Gutiérrez (born 1948) is a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...

classical pianist known for his performances of works in the Romantic Repertoire.

Early life and education

When

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

gained control of Cuba in 1959, the family decided to leave the country.Muller, Alberto, "Horacio Gutiérrez: El Mejor Pianista del Mundo", ''Diario de Las Americas'', Oct. 20. 2007 He moved with his family to the United States in 1962, studying in Los Angeles with

Sergei Tarnowsky Sergei Vladimirovich Tarnowsky (also spelled Sergei Tarnovsky; ; 3 November 188322 March 1976) was a Russian, Soviet and American pianist and teacher. Biography Tarnowsky was born in Kharkiv (then the capital of the Kharkov Governorate). Visiting ...

Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (November 5, 1989) was a Russian and American pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all time, he was known for his virtuoso technique, timbre, and the public excitement engendered by his playing. Life ...

's first teacher in Kiev, and later at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

under

Adele Marcus Adele Marcus (February 22, 1906 May 3, 1995) was an American pianist and instructor whose career was based at the Juilliard School in New York City. Life and career Marcus was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the youngest of 13 children of a rabbi ...

,a pupil of Russian pianist

Josef Lhévinne Josef Lhévinne (13 December 18742 December 1944) was a Russian pianist and piano teacher. Lhévinne wrote a short book in 1924 that is considered a classic: ''Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing''. Asked how to say his name, he told ''The L ...

. He later worked extensively with American pianist William Masselos, a pupil of Carl Friedberg, who himself had studied with

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; ; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...

and

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

. In 1970, he was a student at the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Career

Gutiérrez's performance career spans over four decades. He was first seen on American television in 1966, on one of the ''

Young People's Concerts The Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic are the longest-running series of family concerts of classical music in the world. Symphony concerts for young people in New York City (before 1924) On November 26, 1898, conductor F ...

'' with

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

, playing "The Great Gate of Kiev" from ''

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is a piano suite in ten movements, plus a recurring and varied Promenade theme, written in 1874 by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. It is a musical depiction of a tour of an exhibition of works by architect and ...

'', by

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

. On August 23, 1970, Gutiérrez made his debut with the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

under

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

's 3rd Piano Concerto. Martin Bernheimer, music critic with the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

, described his first appearance with the orchestra as "spectacular". He was M.D. Anderson Distinguished Professor of Music at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

from 1996 to 2003. He is currently teaching at

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

. Gutiérrez is best known for his interpretation of the Romantic repertoire. He has been commented for performances of the Classical style in music of composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. Gutiérrez is a strong champion of contemporary American composers. He has performed works by

William Schuman William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator. Life Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

and

George Perle George Perle (6 May 1915 – 23 January 2009) was an American composer and music theory, music theorist. As a composer, his music was largely atonality, atonal, using methods similar to the twelve-tone technique of the Second Viennese School. Th ...

. His recording "George Perle: A Retrospective" was named one of the ten best recordings of 2006 by ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. Perle dedicated Nine Bagatelles to Gutiérrez.

Recordings

He has recorded for

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

and

Chandos Records Chandos Records is a British independent classical music recording company based in Colchester. It was founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

and the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

. The recording has been acclaimed since its initial release in 1990. Reissued as part of Prokofiev The Piano Concertos in 2009, it was ''Gramophone'''s Editor's Choice in September (2009). Bryce Morrison wrote in Gramophone Magazine, ''"...Gutiérrez unleashes some of the most thrilling virtuosity on record, storming the Second Concerto's first movement development/cadenza in a manner that will make lesser pianists tremble."'' *Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with André Previn and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra *Brahms Piano Concerto No.2 with André Previn and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra *Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony. *Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 and Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with Andre Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Television

* BBC "Previn Music Nights" with the London Symphony, (1975) * PBS Series: "Previn and the Pittsburgh," (1976) * PBS Series: "Previn and the Pittsburgh," (1982)Pittsburgh Symphony Radio Interview * PBS Series: Live from Lincoln Center, "''Mostly Mozart Festival''," (1985) * PBS Series: Live from Lincoln Center, "''Chamber Music Society with

Irene Worth Irene Worth, CBE (June 23, 1916March 10, 2002), born Harriett Elizabeth Abrams, was an American stage and screen actress who became one of the leading stars of the British and American theatre. She pronounced her first name with three syllabl ...

and Horacio Gutierrez,''" (1986) *

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

, (1985), (1986) (Three appearances)

Awards

He won the silver medal and was the top American prize-winner at 21 years of age in the 1970

International Tchaikovsky Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Soviet Union. and was soon presented in major world-wide concert venues by

Sol Hurok Sol Hurok (also Solomon Israilevich Hurok; born Solomon Izrailevich Gurkov, Russian language, Russian Соломон Израилевич Гурков; April 9, 1888March 5, 1974) was a 20th-century American impresario. Early life Hurok was born ...

's management. In 1982, he was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in recognition of his musical achievements. He won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for his fourth appearance with the

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music in New York City and around the world. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber m ...

Reception

After his debut recital in London, Joan Chissell, music critic with ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (London) wrote, ''His virtuosity is of the kind of which legends are made''.

Personal life

He currently lives and works in the United States. He met his wife, pianist Patricia Asher, while she was studying with William Masselos and Adele Marcus at the

. Gutiérrez suffers from bursitis and a chronic back injury.

References

External links

Bio Artists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez, Horacio Living people 1948 births Manhattan School of Music faculty University of Houston faculty Piano educators American classical pianists American male classical pianists Cuban classical pianists Emmy Award winners Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition Child classical musicians Cuban emigrants to the United States 20th-century American pianists