Kirill Gerstein was the sixth artist to be awarded one of the rarest distinctions for a pianist: the Gilmore Artist Award. Awarded only every four years, it is presented to “an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses broad and profound musicianship and charisma and who desires and can sustain a career as a major international concert artist”. The jury acknowledged Gerstein’s unusual ability to exhibit the same skill in the classic and contemporary repertoire, and in jazz, and give freshness to even the most familiar pieces. He makes his debut in Gulbenkian Music with a programme that is proof of his great versatility.

Kirill Gerstein Piano

Franz Liszt
Études d’exécution transcendante No. 7, Eroica

Ludwig van Beethoven
Eroica Variations, op. 35

Leoš Janáček
Sonata 1.X.1905

Franz Liszt
Funérailles (Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses No. 7)

Claude Debussy
Les Soirs illuminés par l’ardeur du charbon

Komitas
Two Armenian Dances: Shushiki / Unabi

Maurice Ravel
Le Tombeau de Couperin