Kirill Gerstein’s Milestone Summer Consolidates His Position as “One of the Most Respected Pianists of His Generation”

As August draws to a close, Kirill Gerstein, winner of the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award, looks back on a milestone summer of high-profile engagements that generated a spate of positive press, consolidating his reputation as “one of the most respected pianists of his generation” (New York Times). These included his New York Philharmonic debut, recitals at (Le) Poisson Rouge and the opening of the Toronto Summer Music Festival, and festival appearances from Colorado’s Aspen and Bravo!-Vail to the UK’s Aldeburgh and BBC Proms, by way of Canada, Switzerland, and Germany.

Capping his milestone summer, in late August the pianist performed Richard Strauss’s early Burleske with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Semyon Bychkov at London’s BBC Proms festival; the Guardian observed that Gerstein “attacked its virtuoso demands with a combination of brilliance and sensitivity.” You can listen to this performance on BBC Radio 3 from now until Friday, September 2.