Cuban pianist and composer Aldo López-Gavilán was born in
Havana to a family of internationally acclaimed classical musicians, his father
a conductor and composer, his mother a concert pianist. Praised for his
“dazzling technique and rhythmic fire” in the Seattle Times, and
dubbed a “formidable virtuoso” by The Times (London), Aldo
excels in both the classical and jazz worlds as a recitalist, concerto soloist,
chamber-music collaborator, recording artist, and performer of his own
electrifying jazz compositions.
 
He has appeared in such prestigious U.S. concert halls as
New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Seattle’s
Benaroya Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center, and Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center,
as well as at Amadeo Roldán (Cuba), Teresa Carreño (Venezuela), Bellas Artes
(Mexico), Royal Festival Hall (U.K.), Nybrokajen 11 (Sweden), The Hall of Music
(Russia), Duc de Lombard et Petit Journal Montparnasse (France), and venues in
Canada, Santo Domingo, Colombia, Spain, Greece, Hong Kong, Burkina Faso,
Germany, and Austria.
 
Aldo’s collaborators have included some of the greatest
artists in the classical, popular music, and jazz fields. The late conductor
Claudio Abbado invited him to perform with Venezuela’s Simón Bolivar Youth
Orchestra in a special concert dedicated to the 250th anniversary of
Mozart’s birth and Maestro Abbado subsequently invited him to perform
Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in Caracas and Havana. More recently, Aldo
joined with violinist Joshua Bell in organizing Seasons of Cuba, a PBS
special that took place at Lincoln Center in December 2016, celebrating a new
era of cultural diplomacy with a program ranging from Vivaldi to Piazzolla and
beyond. Among the prestigious artists joining them were Dave Matthews, the Chamber
Orchestra of Havana, singer-songwriter Carlos Varela, and soprano Larisa
Martinez.
 
Aldo and his brother Ilmar
Gavilán, first violinist of New York-based Harlem Quartet, are featured in the new documentary Los
Hermanos / The Brothers, which tells the story of their shared childhood,
their momentous first performances together, and their parallel lives as
musicians; it includes a genre-bending score composed by Aldo, concert footage
of him performing with Harlem Quartet, and guest appearances by such legendary
musicians as Joshua Bell. A Patchwork Films production by Marcia
Jarmel and Ken Schneider, Los Hermanos is screening at film
festivals worldwide and will be nationally broadcast on PBS in the fall of
2021.
 
Aldo’s U.S. concert
activity in the 2020-21 season included a May 8 virtual recital sponsored by
Detroit’s CameraMusic in which he performed his own works in partnership with
his violinist brother Ilmar, and two virtual performances sponsored by the West
Michigan Symphony: a solo recital at The Block (May 22) and a return engagement
with the orchestra for a performance of his own piano concerto, Emporium (May 21). Two U.S.
tours with Harlem Quartet are planned for 2021-22. Also scheduled for that season is the debut of Aldo’s new trumpet concerto: Commissioned by New York’s
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, it will be premiered by that orchestra and the
renowned trumpet soloist Arturo Sandoval at Carnegie Hall on February 19, 2022.