Marc-André Hamelin, Nathalie Forget, Toronto Symphony Orchestra & Gustavo Gimeno
Biography Marc-André Hamelin, Nathalie Forget, Toronto Symphony Orchestra & Gustavo Gimeno
Marc-André Hamelin
“A performer of near-superhuman technical prowess” (The New York Times), pianist Marc-André Hamelin is known worldwide for his unrivaled blend of consummate musicianship and brilliant technique in the great works of the established repertoire, as well as for his intrepid exploration of the rarities of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. He regularly performs around the globe with the leading orchestras and conductors of our time, and gives recitals at major concert venues and festivals worldwide.
Highlights of Mr. Hamelin’s 2022–2023 season include a vast variety of repertoire performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall (Piano Quintet’s by Florence Price and Brahms), Berlin Philharmonic and Marek Janowski(Reger’s Piano Concerto), San Diego Symphony and Rafael Payare (Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2), Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Gimeno (Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie), Netherlands Philharmonic and Joshua Weilerstein (Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue), and Symphony Nova Scotia and Holly Mathieson (Grieg’s Piano Concerto). Recital appearances take Mr. Hamelin to Vienna, Chicago, Toronto, Montréal, Napa Valley, São Paulo, and Bogotá, among other venues across the world.
The summer of 2022 included performances at many festivals including Caramoor with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Tanglewood, Domaine Forget, La Jolla, Schubertiade, and Festival International Piano.
Mr. Hamelin is an exclusive recording artist for Hyperion Records, where his discography spans more than 70 albums, with notable recordings of a broad range of solo, orchestral, and chamber repertoire. In January 2022, the label released a two-disc set of C. P. E. Bach’s sonatas and rondos that received wide critical acclaim and in June 2022, Hyperion released the two-disc set of William Bolcom’s The Complete Rags.
Mr. Hamelin has composed music throughout his career, with over 30 compositions to his name. The majority of those works—including the Etudes and Toccata on L’homme armé, commissioned by the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—are published by Edition Peters. His most recent work, his Piano Quintet, was premiered in August 2022 by himself and the celebrated Dover Quartet at La Jolla Music Society.
Mr. Hamelin makes his home in the Boston area with his wife, Cathy Fuller, a producer and host at Classical WCRB. Born in Montreal, he is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the German Record Critics’ Association, and has received seven Juno Awards and 11 Grammy nominations, and the 2018 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. In December 2020, he was awarded the Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award for Keyboard Artistry from the Ontario Arts Foundation. Mr. Hamelin is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada.
Gustavo Gimeno
is the Music Director with Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg – a title he has held since 2015, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra where he remains through the 2029/30 season. He is also Music Director Designate of Teatro Real, where he will assume his role in season 2025/26.
During the 2023/24 season, Gimeno and the TSO usher in a bold new beginning for the Orchestra in its 101st year, with major symphonic works – including Mahler’s Symphony No.3, Brahms’ Symphony No.1, Respighi’s Pines of Rome, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Pulcinella – presented alongside an unprecedented number of pieces never before performed by the TSO. Gimeno will share the stage with, among other soloists, Daniil Trifonov, James Ehnes, Emily D’Angelo, Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
With Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Gimeno explores repertoire including Brahms Symphony No.4, Rachmaninov Concert for Piano No.2, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique and Mahler Symphony No.5. International touring has formed a significant part of Gimeno’s commitment with Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg during the last seven years. In 2023/24 he tours with Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg to Stockholm, Köln and Belgium. Throughout his tenure, Gimeno and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg have visited many of Europe, South Korea and South America’s most prestigious concert halls, and soloists with whom Gimeno has shared the stage include Daniel Barenboim, Gautier Capuçon, Anja Harteros, Leonidas Kavakos, Bryn Terfel, Yuja Wang and Martin Grubinger. A highlight has been performances of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with Krystian Zimerman.
As Music Director Designate of Teatro Real, in December 2023, Gimeno conducts Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Pequeños Cantores de la ORCAM, Coro Nacional de España — coro feminine and mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti for Mahler Symphony No.3.
He is much sought-after as a symphonic guest conductor worldwide: in 2023/24 appearances include Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of past seasons include Berliner Philharmoniker, Münchner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de France, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. At home and abroad touring projects have included concerts as far afield as Japan and Taiwan.
Gimeno and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg have an extensive discography with Pentatone. Releases include a Francisco Coll monography featuring the Violin Concerto with Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Shostakovich’s Symphony No.1 and Bruckner’s Symphony No.1, Ravel’s complete ballet music to Daphnis et Chloé, Mahler’s Symphony No.4, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle and César Franck’s Symphony in D minor. As an opera conductor he is invited for major titles at great houses such as the Liceu Opera Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia and Teatro Real Madrid. In 2022/23 Gimeno returned to Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia to conduct the Katie Mitchell production of Jenůfa.
February 2024 will see the release of the first commercial recording Gimeno and the TSO made together, in May 2023, memorializing Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie under the Harmonia Mundi label. This builds on Gimeno’s relationship with the label, for which he has recorded Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, and Stravinsky’s ballets The Firebird and Apollon musagète with Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.
