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Gabriela Montero (born May 10, 1970) is a Venezuela pianist, known in particular for her real-time improvisation of complex musical pieces on themes suggested by her audience and other sources, as well as for performances of standard classical repertoire.
Montero began formal piano lessons at age four and gave her first public performance at the age of five. Aged eight, she made her concerto debut at the National Theater in Caracas, performing the complete Haydn D Major Piano Concerto with the Orquesta Nacional Juvenil de Venezuela (National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela), conducted by José Antonio Abreu. At the age of nine, she was awarded a government scholarship to study in the US. From 1990 until 1993, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Hamish Milne. In 1995, she won third prize at the XIII International Chopin Piano Competition.
Montero has performed with the New York Philharmonic; debuted with Lorin Maazel, Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl; Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall; Rotterdam Philharmonisch Orkest at De Doelen; and NDR Hanover at the Bergen Festival. In recital, her engagements include the Edinburgh Festival, Vienna Konzerthaus, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Kölner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Konzerthaus Berlin, Alte Sendersaal Frankfurt, Kennedy Centre Washington, D.C., and at the ‘Progetto Martha Argerich’ Festival in Lugano where she is invited annually.
Montero performed John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Anthony McGill at the inauguration of U.S. president Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, although the music played was a recording made two days beforehand because of concerns over the cold weather damaging the instruments.
Montero has a partnership with the French cellist Gautier Capuçon, appearing at various European festivals. Interview with Gautier Capuçon
Her performance of her own Piano Concerto No. 1, the 'Latin' Concerto, in Stockholm in August 2024, with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marta Gardolińska , was featured in an episode of BBC Radio 3's Classical Live in November that year. The episode also featured her solo encore, Improvisation on the Swedish drinking song 'italic=no, performed at the suggestion of an audience member.
Montero's Bach and Beyond was given the "Choc de la musique de l'année" award in 2006 from the French magazine Le Monde de la musique. She also received the Keyboard Instrumentalist of the Year award at the ECHO Preis Award in Munich. In 2007, ECHO Preis awarded her the Klassik-ohne-Grenzen Award for her Bach and Beyond CD. In 2009, her album Baroque was nominated for a Grammy Award in two categories (Best Crossover Category and Best Producer Category). A more recent album (2015) - featuring her own composition for piano and orchestra "Ex Patria", Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2, and 3 freestyle improvisations - won the Grammy for Best Classical Album at the 2015 Latin Grammy Awards. She has also been profiled on CBS's 60 Minutes in a segment entitled "The Gift". The Gift CBS
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