Gary Kirkpatrick
Internationally acclaimed pianist Gary Kirkpatrick is recognized throughout the world as one of America’s foremost soloists, chamber musicians, and teachers. Originally from Kansas, he gave his first recital at age eleven and graduated with high honors from the Eastman School of Music and the Academy of Music in Vienna. After claiming top prizes at the Stepanov Piano Competition in Vienna and the International Piano Competition in Jaen, Spain, he made is New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City. The New York Times praised his "high caliber performance and musicianship" as having "covered a wide gamut of moods with varied pacings within a unified architectural concept." Frequent New York engagements followed, most notably at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, where he was hailed by Musical America as a pianist with a"bright colorful tone, forthright, honest musicianship, and above all, a welcome acuity of timing."
Mr. Kirkpatrick’s numerous concert tours and television and radio broadcasts have taken him to over forty countries (encircling the globe more than three times) and placed him at the vanguard of today’s musical scene. A strong proponent of 20th century music, he has explored new horizons in compositions created especially for him during his tenure are pianist with the renowned Verdehr Trio. Comprised of a rare violin, clarinet and piano combination, the trio has commissioned more than one hundred new works and recorded ten albums on the Crystal, Corélia, Leonardo, and Amadeo labels.
Gary Kirkpatrick has been invited as guest artist and teacher to many of the world’s leading conservatories including those in Shanghai, China; Bombay and Calcutta, India; Brisbane, Australia; Tallinn, Estonia; and Cairo, Egypt. He has been on the faculties of the University of Kansas, the Interlochen Center for the Arts and is currently professor of piano at the William Paterson University of New Jersey where he recently received the Dean’s Award of Honor for Exemplary Artistic Achievement.
Recent tours included concerts and master classes in Estonia, Austria, Greece (Athens and Corfu), Cyprus, Japan, and the US (the Frick Collection in New York City and the Phillips Gallery in Washington, D.C.). His performance of Howard Hanson’s Fantasy on a Theme of Youth received a rave review in Classical New Jersey. In celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Gershwin’s birth Mr. Kirkpatrick performed Rhapsody in Blue and The Three Preludes in Osaka Japan. Next season Gary Kirkpatrick will be touring the US, Europe and giving the world premiere of American composer John Link’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra