Mexican-American pianist Gustavo Romero has a stellar reputation for both the technical brilliance and interpretive depth of his playing, as well as his commitment to in-depth exploration of individual composers. For the past eight years, he has prepared a series of concerts focusing on the music of one composer. So far, he has presented the works of Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, Schubert, and Brahms. These concerts take place initially at the Athenaeum Summer Festival in La Jolla, California, and during this Festival, Mr. Romero also lectures on the artists at the University of California, San Diego. In 2009, he will present recitals featuring the music of Mendelssohn and Hayden, in celebration of their 200th birth and death anniversaries.
Mr. Romero, a native of San Diego, California with heritage in Guadalajara, Mexico, discovered his love and gift for music at age five, when being introduced to the piano of a neighbor. He started taking lessons, and gave his first public performances at the age of 10, while also winning his first piano competition. His early teachers included Ilana Mysior.
Following a recommendation by Bohemian pianist Rudolf Serkin, Gustavo moved to New York City to attend, and graduate from The Juilliard School.
In 1983 he won the Avery Fisher Young Artist Career Grant, and in 1989 First Prize in the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland. In 2004, Dallas radio station WRR selected one of his concerts as the best performance of the year.
After five years as assistant professor at the University of Illinois/Champaign, Mr. Romero is now associate professor of piano at the University of North Texas.
In the summer of 2008, he returns to South Africa to continue his ambitious project of presenting Beethoven's complete piano sonatas on three continents, in seven recitals, within three years. This cycle was launched in Johannesburg and Capetown, South Africa in the summer of 2007, continued in Palm Springs, California this year, and will be presented in Hong Kong, Taipei, and Durban, South Africa in 2009.
Highlights of the 2007/08 season also included appearances in Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, and Italy.
In 2008/09, Mr. Romero will return to Japan and Taiwan, as well as being featured at the beautifully restored Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy.
In 2006, Mr. Romero performed piano concerti of Mozart in San Diego conducting from the keyboard, and Mozart duo-piano recitals in Venice and Vicenza, Italy, with Massimo Somenzi. In Fall 2005, he performed duo-piano music in concert with Darío Ntaca of Argentina. In August 2005 he was featured in solo recitals at Massey University (Wellington, New Zealand), Mahidol University (Bangkok, Thailand), and in a concerto performance with the Martha Argerich Sinfonietta (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Master classes were a prominent part of this tour.
Mr. Romero was featured on NPR's These Days on July 2, 2008, and Performance Today on July 22, 2005, performing works of Medtner, Mompou, Granados, and Maratka. Part II of this program aired the same year. In 2004, he completed a two-year Mozart cycle: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Fantasies, and Rondos as well as the Complete Four Hand and Two Piano Works with pianist Massimo Somenzi in concerts across the United States.
For Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto in A minor he was both soloist and conductor in California and Texas.
His complete traversal of Chopin's solo piano works in six sold-out concerts received numerous critical accolades, including the Los Angeles Times, which stated, "Romero showed an easy musicality, solid technical resources, a joy in illuminating miniatures and an unfeigned authority in this music in short, strong rapport with the poetic and lyric elements in the composer's art." The series was recorded for national broadcast on NPR's Performance Today.
Mr. Romero has performed as piano soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta, Houston, Boston Pops, Albuquerque, Austin, Pittsburgh, Honolulu, New World Symphonies, English Chamber Orchestra, Radio France Orchestra, Philharmonia Hungarica, New Japan Philharmonic, Shanghai Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic, Russian Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Liège Philharmonic, a concert internationally broadcast from the United Nations headquarters. He has presented concerts around the globe, and appeared at major music festivals around the world.
With Koch records, Mr. Romero has recorded Chopin, Mompou, Debussy, and the five Beethoven concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra.
He maintains residences in New York City, Dallas, and San Diego.
