Gabriela Montero, piano

Friends of Chamber Music welcomes acclaimed Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero to Denver for a dazzling evening inspired by the music of Spain. Montero makes her Friends of Chamber Music debut at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 11, at Gates Concert Hall in the Newman Center for the Performing Arts. A pre-concert talk, featuring Argentine-American pianist and conductor Steven Aguiló-Arbues, will begin at 6:30 p.m. 

Known for her visionary interpretations, electrifying performances, and extraordinary improvisational gifts, Gabriela Montero has earned a devoted international following. The program offers a colorful journey through music shaped by Spanish rhythms, melodies, and traditions—from Scarlatti’s eighteenth-century keyboard sonatas to the evocative works of Albéniz and Granados and Liszt’s dazzling nineteenth-century tribute to Spanish music.

Montero is celebrated not only for her interpretations of the classical repertoire but also for her remarkable ability to improvise. Her performances often incorporate spontaneous improvisation, a rare and exhilarating art that has become a signature of her artistry.

“Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

— The New York Times