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Photo Credit: Christian Steiner
Gerardo Teissonniére, piano
Regarded by international critics and audiences as an artist of extraordinary musicianship and rare sensibility since his acclaimed solo recital debut at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., American pianist Gerardo Teissonnière brings to the concert stage an exciting amalgam of the diverse and important musical traditions he represents. From appearances at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, Lincoln Center in New York to concert halls throughout Asia, Europe, North and Latin America, Mr. Teissonnière appears in solo recital, as soloist with orchestra, in duo-piano and chamber music performances in major concert series as well as in radio and television broadcasts throughout the world.
Highlights of recent concert seasons include solo recital debuts in Munich, Italy and Vienna, as well as solo and chamber music performances with members of The Cleveland Orchestra, and critically acclaimed performances at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg International Music Festival in Germany. Recent concert season events include appearances at the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica, Lincoln Center in New York City, a performance for an audience of twenty thousand and a solo recital at the Diayucheng International Music Festival in Chongqing, China, his solo recital debut in Beijing, all-Chopin concerts in Poland, chamber music concerts in Latin America featuring première performances of the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Pablo Casals, and a return engagement with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. The 2018 season marked his debut as soloist with orchestra in Beijing, appearances in concert and master classes in New York City, Beijing's Central Conservatory, as Artist-in-Residence at the Rocky Ridge Music Center in Colorado and a solo recital tour of Shaanxi, Henan, Hunan, and Szechuan Provinces in China. In the 2018-19 season, Mr. Teissonnière began two projects: performing all of Beethoven’s works for piano and orchestra, and a series of recitals featuring works by and inspired toward the composer’s 250th anniversary, and Schubert 2020, his much anticipated traversal of the piano music of Franz Schubert.
During the worldwide Schubert Bicentennial celebrations, Mr. Teissonnière presented a series of critically acclaimed solo recitals dedicated to the works of the Viennese composer. Highly regarded since for his interpretations of the Classical repertoire, he has presented local, regional, American and world première performances of music by 20th century and contemporary composers such as Pablo Casals, Aaron Copland, Claude Debussy, Evan Fein, Alberto Ginastera, Osvaldo Golijov, Lowell Liebermann, Darius Milhaud, Arvo Pärt, Jake Runestad and Robert Schumann.
Gerardo Teissonnière combines an active performance schedule with faculty appointments at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University, and served as Artistic Director of the Piano Department and Artist-in-Residence at the Amati Music Festival in New York. He is the recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music in recognition of his outstanding accomplishment in the field of piano performance and pedagogy, the Judson Smart Living Award in Education, and received multiple nominations for the Ohio Arts Council’s Governor’s Award for the Arts.
Mr. Teissonnière began his musical training at an early age in Puerto Rico with Cecilia Talavera and Luz Hutchinson. He continued Conservatory studies with Jesús Maria Sanromá and Vitya Vronsky, both pupils of Artur Schnabel and Alfred Cortot, at the Aspen Music Festival with Jeaneane Dowis, in Europe with Dmitri Bashkirov and Joaquín Achúcarro, and made his debut as soloist with the Puerto Rico Symphony as a laureate in the first Jesús Maria Sanromá Piano Competition. An exclusive Steinway Artist, Mr. Teissonnière is on the Artist Roster of the Si-Yo Music Society Foundation in New York.
Gerardo Teissonnière is in great demand for his mentoring of young musicians, and conducts master classes and piano pedagogy seminars throughout the world. His students have performed as soloists with some of the world's most important orchestras such as The Cleveland Orchestra, and in solo recital at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, among other venues.
A member of the Artist Faculties at the Rocky Ridge Music Center in Colorado, the Sulzbach-Rosenberg International Music Festival in Germany and Music Fest Perugia in Italy, Gerardo Teissonnière is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who Among America's Teachers, and Who's Who in the World. In 2019 Mr. Teissonnière celebrates his 30th anniversary as member of the Piano Faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Steinway Immortal Vitya Vronsky Babin.