Piano sensation JOSU DE SOLAUN

TAGS: Festival Music Classical Concert International Romantic Symphony

Sun 11/17/2024

Piano sensation JOSU DE SOLAUN (USA/SPAIN) performs a unique recital at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.

*About this event*
The Miami International Piano Festival showcases some of the most astonishing artists on the global stage through its AVENTURA SERIES. In this upcoming event, American pianist Josu De Solaun will present a curated selection of solo piano pieces against the enchanting backdrop of the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center in Aventura, Florida.

"De Solaun lets expression lead at all times, no matter how intense the virtuosity. " - BBC Music Magazine

PROGRAM:
R. SCHUMANN
Concert Allegro in B Minor, Op. 8 (1831)
Grand Sonata in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 11 (1836)

S. PROKOFIEV
Prelude in C Major, Op. 12 Nr. 7 (1906 - 1913)
Piano Sonata Nr. 8 in B-flat major, Op. 84 (1944)

BIOGRAPHY · JOSU DE SOLAUN
Josu De Solaun has garnered recognition from critics like Nikolaus Frey (Fuldaer Zeitung) for his "poetic sense of sound, bold artistic vision, and brilliant virtuoso skills, always and totally at the service of the works he performs." He's a two-time awardee of the prestigious International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) in 2021 for chamber music and in 2023 as the best soloist.

In the 2023 edition, the ICMA jury expressed: "Josu de Solaun is one of the most impressive discoveries of the past decade. Not only is he a technically impressive pianist, but his interpretative imagination also knows no limits. His interpretations ideally reflect De Solaun's ability to engage with works symbiotically and at the highest energy levels. Free of aesthetic dogmas, the pianist creates cosmoses of a solitary nature."

He is also the sole Spanish pianist to win first prizes at the José Iturbi (2006) and George Enescu (2014) international piano competitions since their inception in 1980 and 1958, respectively. Esteemed pianists like Elisabeth Leonskaja (1964) and Radu Lupu (1967) have previously won the Enescu Competition.

In 2019, President of Romania Klaus Iohannis appointed him Officer of the Order of the Cultural Merit of the Republic of Romania, acknowledging his artistic work and promotion of George Enescu’s music—whose complete works for piano he recorded under the NAXOS label—and Romanian musical culture globally.

Josu, trained by Salvador Chuliá and pianists María Teresa Naranjo and Ana Guijarro in Spain, later studied in New York under pianists Nina Svetlanova and Horacio Gutiérrez, enabling him to exhibit his musical artistry in various forms. Further studies in New York included composition with Giampaolo Bracali and conducting with Robert Isaacs and David Gilbert, along with chamber music with Robert Mann (Juilliard Quartet) and Isidore Cohen (Beaux Arts Trio).

Jessica Duchen of BBC Music Magazine praised: "De Solaun allows the expression to lead at all times, no matter how intense the virtuosity. There is always an elastic vitality in his interpretations, a warm and intimate approach to his phrasing, and a beautiful, sweet tone."

Justo Romero in Scherzo declared: "It is difficult to imagine a more powerful and creative pianism. De Solaun is one of the most interesting virtuosos of the contemporary keyboard. Spanish and non-Spanish. A vigorous, wise pianism, of refined workmanship and great musicality. We are before a true colossus of the piano, a true virtuoso, in the old style, who makes use of his resplendent technique and the extroverted dramatic, his strong artistic nature to conjugate versions that combine brilliance and effusiveness, fire and delicacy, always with an intense pianistic foundation, all with naturalness, strength, power, sonorous opulence, and intense expressive sense."

Josu has performed with orchestras including the Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta de la RTVE, Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Rudolf Barshai Chamber Orchestra of Moscow, RTE Orchestra of Dublin, National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico City, Orchestra of the Fenice of Venice, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra of Bucharest, Bucharest Radio Orchestra, Radio Orchestra of Prague, and nearly all Spanish orchestras, working with conductors like Giancarlo Guerrero, Justus Frantz, Rumon Gamba, JoAnn Falletta, Constantine Orbelian, Christian Badea, Paul Daniel, Enrique García Asensio, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Laurence Equilbey, Rossen Milanov, Yaron Traub, Alexis Soriano, Jonathan Pasternack, Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez, and Ramón Tebar.

Living in Manhattan, New York from 1999 to 2019, Josu graduated from the Manhattan School of Music (1999-2011) and later taught piano at S. Houston State University (2014-2018). Since February 2020, he has lived in Madrid with his family.

He recently premiered his "Concertino Breve" (2023) for piano and string orchestra in Klaipeda, Lithuania, conducted by Alexis Soriano-Monstavicius. In August 2023, he recorded Prokofiev's Concerto No. 2 and Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 3 with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León for the IBS Classical label. Soon, he'll release a CD featuring Strauss’s Burlesque, as well as Liszt's two Piano Concertos and Totentanz, with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Pasternack, on ARIA Classics.

Teaching piano at Escuela Superior Musical Arts Madrid (MAM), he nurtures a handful of students and exercises his profound pedagogical vocation. In 2021, his poetry book "Las Grietas" was published by Edictoralia. Josu's career has been managed by IBERKONZERT since 2011.