Avery Gagliano

Sanibel Music Festival Program Notes from Dr. Richard Rodda for the March 9 Avery Gagliano Concert

Having made her debut at Carnegie Hall last year at age 20, pianist Avery Gagliano came to international acclaim as the First Prize and Best Concerto Prize winner of the 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition, and as the only American semifinalist at the 18th International Chopin Competition in 2021. Highlights of the 2022-23 season include her debuts with the Louisville Orchestra, Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and Fort Collins Symphony, as well as being invited by Sir András Schiff to take part in his “Building Bridges” series, performing in recitals across Europe throughout the season.

Ms. Gagliano is also a dedicated chamber musician, regularly sharing the stage with such ensembles as the Balourdet Quartet and Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players in New York. In recent seasons, she has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician on renowned concert stages and at established festivals, including Verbier, Gilmore, Bravo! Vail, Ravinia, Aspen, Swiss Alps Classics, Carnegie Hall, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Cavatina Hall, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Salle Cortot, and WQXR Greene Space. Her solo appearances with orchestra include the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra, Tuscarawas Philharmonic, MostArts Festival Orchestra, Oregon Mozart Players, Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, and Symphony in C.

Ms. Gagliano’s debut album, Reflections, was released on the Steinway & Sons label in 2021, with a program ranging from Chopin and Haydn and Schumann to Adès. Alongside her successes at the two most highly regarded Chopin competitions, Avery also received the Audience Prize at the 2019 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition, and was the winner of the Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition, MostArts Festival Piano Competition, and 2019 National YoungArts Competition. She is an alumna of the Verbier Festival & Academy, Gstaad Piano Academy, and Lang Lang International Music Foundation’s Young Scholars Program, a four-year holder of the US Chopin Foundation Scholarship, and has made several appearances on Philadelphia’s WRTI classical radio and National Public Radio’s From The Top. Originally from Washington, D.C., Avery Gagliano currently resides in Philadelphia, where she studies at the Curtis Institute with Robert McDonald. She has also studied with Gary Graffman and Jonathan Biss at Curtis. averygagliano.com

© Dr. Richard E. Rodda 2023

Avery Gagliano Reviews

“Rich in fantasy, drama and poetry.”
New York Classical Review

“Memorable for impeccable pianism, intelligence, musicality and lack of any superficiality.”
ConcertNet.com

“Sparkled with articulate clarity, technically superb, no ordinary pianist.”
CVNC

“Rock-solid technique and acute musical sensibilities, brilliant keyboard display, invigorating and expressive.”
South Florida Classical Review

The Chopin Foundation of the United States announced the prizewinners of the 10th ational Chopin Piano Competition on Sunday, March 1, 2020 at Miami-Dade County Auditorium. Following an arduous week for 25 contestants performing works by Frederic Chopin, the jury crowned 18-year old Avery Gagliano first prizewinner.
She receives the highest cash award of $100,000 for an American piano competition, a recording contract on the Steinway & Sons label, a solo concert at New Yorkís Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, amongst many other appearances through a pre-scheduled concert tour that begins this month in Sanibel, Florida. Ms. Gagliano is a student of one of the greatest piano pedagogues of all time, Gary Graffman.
Classical Post March 4, 2020