Sterne Virtuoso Event to Feature Guillermo González

Pianist Guillermo González will be Skidmore’s Sterne virtuoso artist this fall, performing in concert at 3 p.m. Sept. 21 in Filene Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. The program includes music by Scarlatti, E. Halffter, and Soler, in addition to selections from Albéniz’s Iberia Suite, a specialty of González.

Born in Tenerife, Spain, González studied at the Tenerife Conservatory and the Madrid Conservatory. Later, he studied in Paris at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique and the Schola Cantorum, where he received the great impressionistic piano tradition through his professors V. Perlemuter and J.P. Sevilla. He also studied with M. Heuclin and S. Roche and won prizes at the Milan, Vercelli (Viotti), Jaén and Tenerife piano competitions. He has played recitals and concerts throughout the world.

González is a consummate specialist in Spanish music repertoire, including the Suite Iberia by I. Albéniz, the complete works of Falla, and music by E. Halffter. González has also premiered works by Spanish contemporary composers Castillo, Coria, Cruz de Castro, García Abril, C. Halffter, and Oliver.

In 1998 he published a new edition of Iberia by Albéniz for the Española de Ediciones Musicales Schott Internacional S.L. (EDMS). In this work, the manuscript text of the composer, in a facsimile edition, a printed copy of the manuscripts, and a revised edition are offered for the first time. This same text was used for the 1996 recording of the Suite Iberia which the Radio European Union (U.E.R.) broadcasted live worldwide.

González has been a piano professor at the Royal Music Conservatory of Madrid since 1974, and has been a frequent guest at international piano courses and competitions, and a regular guest professor at the Music Department of the University of Melbourne (Australia). Since 1990 he has been president of the Jaen International Piano Competition, which has awarded him with the golden medal for his work.

His recording Piano Works by Teobaldo Power was awarded Spain’s Great National Prize for recording in 1980. In 1998 he recorded the Suite Iberia and the two Spanish Suites by I. Albéniz for the multinational “Naxos.” He has also recorded the piano works of E. Halffter and A. Scriabin.

In 1991 González was awarded the Music National Prize, the highest honor given by the Spanish State in his speciality. He was “Premio Añavingo” in 1993, in 1994 was awarded the Golden Medal of Tenerife, and in 1996 the Medal of Villa de Garachico in its V Centennial. In 2000 he was awarded with the CEOE Spain Foundation Prize of Musical Performance.

Skidmore’s Sterne Virtuoso Artists Series is made possible by a bequest from Jean Sterne, a member of the College’s Class of 1932. The series is dedicated to presenting virtuosi guest performances in piano or strings.

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