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Biography |
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Internationally
acclaimed concert pianist Gloria Saarinen is a soloist, chamber
musician, impresario, television host and recording artist. She
has triumphed worldwide on the concert stage, building a career
as a child prodigy, through the major academies across Europe, and
ultimately performing to rave reviews in the world's great concert
halls - Festival &Wigmore (London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Suntory
(Tokyo), Carnegie (New York). She tours regularly throughout Canada,
the United States, Europe and Australasia. Gloria Saarinen is a
performer whose sensitive interpretations, vitality and artistry
make a recital a musical experience with radiance. Reviewers have
called her "A Poet of the Piano" (Siena, Italy) and have likened
her playing to that of the late Artur Rubinstein.
The musical world of Gloria Saarinen is infinite and varied. She
performs solo and ensemble recitals worldwide, choosing diverse
and challenging repertoire, with a flair for the accessible and
the unexpected, side by side. In her award winning television series
"Musical Portraits", host Saarinen treats audiences to intimate
close-ups of famous musicians such as guitarist Narciso Yepes, pianist
Menahem Pressler, cellist Ofra Harnoy or ensembles such as the Prague
Quartet. She has toured "down under" with Arthur Fiedler, performed
in Britain with the Hallé Orchestra, and with major orchestras in
Europe, Canada and the U.S.A. A winner of the Harriet Cohen Commonwealth
Award for distinguished performances in Europe, and a two-time Alberta
Government Achievement Award recipient, she has given over 2000
performances for audiences worldwide. She received the Rotary International
Paul Harris Fellowship (Chicago, 1997), an Associateship, Royal
Academy of Music (London, England, 1999) and a Special Teacher's
Award, ORMTA (Toronto Branch, 2001). She has produced Concert Series,
Festivals and Piano Competitions both nationally and internationally,
coaches piano and chamber music master classes and on occasion adopts
the role of impresario. Gloria was the founder and artistic director
of MidSummer Music, a summer workshop for young musicians that promotes
rapid musical learning through its emphasis on ensemble playing.
Her many solo and ensemble recordings (DOREMI, Sefel, Marquis Classics,
and EBS labels) can be found in music stores worldwide.
Recent concerts include American tours to Texas, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, California, Oregon, and Washington in 2004-2005 as
well as numerous engagements in Canada throughout the summer and
fall seasons. She toured New Zealand and Australia in November-December
2001, May of 2003 and 2006. Recent showcase appearances include
Ontario Contact 2005 and British Columbia Contact 2003. |
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