Featuring pianists ILYA ITIN - ALBERT CANO SMIT - LUIS URBINA - DANIEL LEBHARDT - STEPHEN BEUS

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ALBERT CANO SMIT

A musician who has been praised as “a moving young poet” (Le Devoir of Montreal), Spanish/Dutch pianist Albert Cano Smit enjoys a growing international career on the orchestral, recital, and chamber music stages. Noted for his captivating performances, storytelling quality and nuanced musicality, the First Prize winner of the 2019 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions has appeared as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, Montréal Symphony, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Orchestra of St Luke’s, Barcelona Symphony, Catalonia National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata.​

Recital highlights have included his Carnegie Hall debut presented by The Naumburg Foundation, his Merkin Concert hall debut presented by Young Concert Artists, recitals at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton (the performance was streamed live globally), the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater in Washington, DC, Germany’s Rheingau Music Festival, and return performances at the Steinway Society in San Jose and Auditori de Barcelona. He has been in residence at France’s Festival de Musique de Wissembourg for seven years, a piano fellow at Bravo! Vail Music Festival and Tippet Rise Art Center, and has had his recital debut in Asia at Xiamen’s Banlam Grand Theater.​

Albert has been presented in recital by Festival Bach Montréal, University of Florida Performing Arts, the Krannert Center (Urbana, IL), and Matinée Musicale (Cincinnati, OH). He recently premiered Katherine Balch’s "Spolia" with flutist Anthony Trionfo taking them to the Morgan Library and Carnegie Hall. Recent recitals with Trionfo have included the Alys Stephens Center, Kravis Center, Evergreen Museum & Library, and others. Cano Smit is set to continue touring with violinist William Hagen, with whom he has recorded the CD “Danse Russe”.​

During the 23-24 season Albert will appear in recital and chamber music performances returning to the Miami International Piano Festival, at the Cosmos Club (Washington, DC), Friends of Music Concerts (Sleepy Hollow, NY), Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota (Sarasota, FL), and Abbey Church Events (Lacey, WA), and will also participate in the inaugural chamber music ensemble of YCA on Tour. He will appear as soloist playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto N.23 with the Rochester Philharmonic and Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Waterbury Symphony and Gulfport Symphony, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major with the Greenwich Symphony and Albany Symphony, and Ravel Piano Concerto in G with the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra.

An advocate for new music, Albert has premiered numerous solo works on his recital programs, commissioned for him by Stephen Hough, Miquel Oliu, and Katherine Balch. He has given four hand performances with Jean-Yves Thibaudet at the Wallis Annenberg Center Hall and Zipper Hall, taken part in the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York and the Bridgehampton Chamber Festival, and performed with such artists as Gary Hoffman, Pinchas Zukerman, Lun Li, Zlatomir Fung, Kevin Zhu, Leonard Fu and Lev Sivkov. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with such ensembles as the Ebene, Szymanowski, Casals, Cosmos, Gerhard, and Verona Quartets, and has released an album of Austrian viola music for Champs Hills with Emma Wernig.

In 2017, Albert was First Prize winner at the Walter W. Naumburg Piano Competition, and a Finalist and CMIM Grant winner at the Concours Musical International de Montréal. Additional special prizes at the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions include The Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Concert Prize for support of his Kennedy Center debut, the Friends of Music Concert Prize (NY), and the Sunday Musicale Prize (NJ).

A polyglot who speaks five languages, Albert was born in Geneva, the son of a Dutch mother and Spanish father. He left home at 9 to join the Escolania de Montserrat choir school, where hours of rehearsal every day strongly affected his musical development. Albert recently completed an Artist Diploma and Masters Degree with Robert McDonald at the Juilliard School, where he was awarded the 2020 Rubinstein Prize for Piano. He also holds a BA in Piano Performance from the Colburn School with Ory Shihor, and studied at Chetham’s School of Music with Marta Karbownicka and Graham Caskie. He is an alum of the Verbier Festival Academy and Ravinia Steans Institute. He currently resides in New York City.

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DANIEL LEBHARDT

In 2014 Daniel Lebhardt won 1st Prize at the Young Concert Artists auditions in Paris and New York. A year later he was invited to record music by Bartók for Decca and in 2016 won the Most Promising Pianist prize at the Sydney International Competition.

This season sees Daniel debut with Konzerthausorchester Berlin and National Philharmonic of Ukraine and return to the Barbican for a performance with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As well performing around the UK, Daniel returns to the US for performances in New York, Chicago and Washington, DC, among others.

Recent highlights include debuts with Hallé Orchestra and Venice Symphony in Florida. In recital he had debuts at the Aldeburgh, Heidelberger-Frühling, Tallinn and Lucerne international festivals and in Dublin and Kiev. He has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, Merkin Concert Hall in New York, St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, Bath International Festival and L’Eglise Saint Germain in Paris as part of the Week-end à l’Est Festival.

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STEPHEN BEUS

As a result of winning the Juilliard School Concerto Competition Mr. Beus made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePreist, playing Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. He has also performed as guest soloist with the Gulbenkian Symphony (Lisbon), Oxford Philomusica, the Tivoli Symphony (Copenhagen), the Tbilisi National Opera Orchestra, the Northwest Sinfonietta (Seattle), the Royal Philharmonic of Morocco (Casablanca), the Vaasa Symphony Orchestra (Finland) as well as with the Hamburg, Indianapolis, Nashville, Santa Fe, Utah, Fort Worth, Tucson, Yakima, Bellevue, Salt Lake, Eastern Sierra, Corvallis, Jacksonville, Texarkana and Walla Walla Symphonies.

Equally active as a soloist, Mr. Beus has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Salle Gaveau and Salle Cortot (Paris), Merkin Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the Central Conservatory (Beijing), Teatro San Carlo (Naples), Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), the Queluz Palace (Lisbon) and has performed for the Dame Myra Hess and Fazioli Salon series (Chicago), the International Keyboard Institute and Festival (New York City), and has given recitals across the United States as well as in Kazakhstan, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Georgia, China, France, Italy, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Morocco.

Born and raised on a farm in eastern Washington, Mr. Beus began lessons at age 5 and made his orchestral debut four years later. He went on to win numerous national and international competitions throughout his youth, capturing the attention of both audiences and critics. Commenting on Mr. Beus’ competition success, Fanfare magazine writes: “In some ways Beus doesn’t fit the mold of the typical competition winner. His playing is strikingly original and, despite his youth, he has an interpretive voice all his own… Above all, his playing is so natural as to seem effortless and the sound he produces has extraordinary richness and depth, not quite like anyone else’s.”

Mr. Beus holds degrees from Whitman College, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, and his teachers have included Leonard Richter, Robert McDonald, Gilbert Kalish, Christina Dahl, and Paulette Richards. He has recorded on the Endeavor Classics, Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur Records labels. Stephen Beus is a Steinway Artist and currently teaches at Brigham Young University.  For more details, visit www.stephenbeuspiano.com.

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ILYA ITIN

Audiences throughout the world revere Ilya Itin’s unique artistry. Playing to sold out houses in Japan and in the US, he is known for his extraordinary range, power, quality of sound and command of the piano. His Princeton recital was singled out by the Philadelphia Inquirer as a “top ten musical moment of the year”, and a New York Times critic described him as: “…a brilliantly insightful pianist who offered a superb recital.” Since capturing the Gold Medal, BBC Audience Award, and Contemporary Music Prize at the 1996 Leeds International Piano Competition, Ilya Itin has performed throughout the world bringing his powerful musical imagination and mastery to wide ranging repertoire. “I’d go to hear him play the phonebook,” remarked BBC TV critic Ian Burnside.

“Ilya Itin is a major pianist with an ease about him that makes you want to listen to him for hours….” Philadelphia Inquirer

Ilya Itin has performed with many of the world’s great conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle, Neemi Jarvi, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Yakov Kreizberg, Vassily Sinaisky, Valery Polyansky, and Mikhail Pletnev performing as soloist with orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony, the National Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the China National Symphony, the Symphony Orchestra of India; the Mexico City Philharmonic; and the Rochester Philharmonic.

Much lauded for his chamber music collaborations with colleagues and friends in the US, Europe and Asia, he recently performed Beethoven Archduke Trio in New York with the Jupiter Chamber Players followed by a recital of the complete Brahms Sonatas in Tokyo with violinist, Fuminori Maro Shinozaki.  He has made numerous recordings of chamber music, including Beethoven’s “Spring” Sonata, Brahms Viola Sonata, Martinu Double Violin Sonata, and Piazzola Spring/Autumn in Buenos Aires, with Igor Gruppmann, violin and Vesna Gruppmann, viola/violin. Mr. Itin has also recorded a full recital with legendary violinist Ida Handel at the Miami International Piano Festival.

 Ilya Itin’s recording of the complete Debussy Preludes on vinyl and high definition audio won critical acclaim: “I [won’t] hear a greater performance of Debussy in my life.” ZB Living the Classical Life. Itin’s DVD of the “Russian Marathon” concerts at the Miami International Piano Festival recorded live, in one day all 24 Preludes of Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev’s 7th and 8th Sonatas was a seminal achievement. Other recordings include Beethoven’s 2nd Piano Concerto with the Jerusalem Camerata on the JDR label, and Prokofiev’s 6th Sonata with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition on VAI.

Mr. Itin is also a much sought after teacher giving regular master classes throughout Japan, in Princeton, Miami, and New York. His students include winners of top prizes in international competitions, and highest awards at the most competitive conservatories of the US and Japan.

Born in Yekaterinburg, Russia, his piano studies began at the Sverdlovsk School for the Gifted with Natalia Litvinova. He went on to graduate from the Moscow Conservatory with the highest honors in 1990 working with legendary teacher Lev Naumov. Mr. Itin won his first major piano competition while at the Conservatory, taking second place in the 1990 Russian National Rachmaninov Competition. Soon after, he won top honors in the William Kapell Competition, followed by First Prize, and the Special Chopin Prize at the Casadesus Competition (Cleveland Competition), and the Best Performance of a Work of Mozart, Best Prokofiev Performance, and Third Prize at the Gina Bachauer Competition.

Ilya Itin is on the teaching faculties of the Musashino Academy in Tokyo, the Academy of the Miami International Piano Festival and the Golandsky Institute at Princeton University. He has also taught in the piano departments of the Juilliard School prep and college divisions, Peabody Conservatory, and the Graduate Program at CUNY. Ilya Itin resides in Tokyo, Japan, and New York City where he maintains a private teaching studio. 

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LUIS URBINA

Luis Urbina was born in Caracas, Venezuela on July 16, 1991. He began his musical studies at the age of 9 on the piano and then began learning cello at the age of 10. He was considered a prodigy in his developmental years. He studied with Dr. Paul Posnak from ages 13-17 and won many local and state competitions as a pianist. He also took voice lessons with Chesne Ryman and competed as a singer during his high school years. Luis earned spots as a finalist in competitions such as the Lennox International piano competition and auditioned for the Gina Bachauer as well.

In 2009 Luis began his studies with Giselle Brodsky, the Artistic Director and Co-Founder the Miami International Piano Festival, which regularly brings in world-class artists and performers. With Mrs. Brodsky, Luis learned about the Taubman approach and greatly improved his technical awareness and musical knowledge and had the opportunity to work with great artists associated with the festival, such as Kemal Gekic, Misha Dacic, Jorge Luis Prats, Francesco Libetta, Dr. Frank cooper and Ilya Itin, just to name a few. He started his college studies at the University of Miami in 2009 with Dr. Frank Cooper, and later transferred to FIU where he got his Undergraduate Degree and studied with Kemal Gekic. During his time at FIU, he played in many ensembles, both jazz and classical, and won the Concerto Competition playing the Liszt 2nd with the School Orchestra. One of his biggest opportunities came when he got the chance to perform with Ida Haendel, the legendary violinist in concerts in Manhattan and Santa Barbara in between 2010-2012. Luis considers this to be one of his biggest honors as a musician.

Since his graduation at FIU, he has worked as a collaborator with many different musicians, especially singers. He played as a part of the MIPF’s “Opera and Piano Transcriptions” series as a collaborator, which sprung into the opportunity to give a recital with world-renowned soprano Eglise Guiterrez in December 2019. He has performed with names such as Gilles Apap, Simone Porter, Oliver Aldort and Chelsea Guo. He has also taken part in Miami Piano International Festival Academy, which had its inception in June 2015. This academy has been an amazing experience for him, gaining immeasurable insights into music and the world of piano with the fantastic roster of artists the Academy offers. Luis has been an integral part of the MIPFA, beginning as a student and now with a veteran role in the Academy, teaching and being a mentor to many younger pianists that attend. MIPFA has had its last two summer session in Briosco, Italy in the Villa Medici Guilini, which has been an amazing experience as well. Luis has also participated in a variety of concerts in the MIPF as a collaborator, accompanying names such as Chelsea Guo, Simone Porter, Eglise Guiterrez, Oliver Aldort, and many others. Luis will make his debut for the festival in the 2024/2025 season as a soloist. In March of 2024 Luis will also be pursuing an Artist Diploma in Musical Arts Madrid with Misha Dacic.

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