Classical Up Close: Igor Levit, 2018 Gilmore Artist

Overview

A note about today’s performance:

We plan to continue with the event as scheduled unless the city shuts down the subways/public transportation systems.

Your safety, however, is incredibly important and we urge patrons and subscribers who were hoping to attend, but are worried about travel, to stay where you are and you can always stream the event from there at wqxr.org.

In the event that we do have to cancel we will notify you via email as soon as possible.

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Every four years, one extraordinary pianist receives the Gilmore Artist Award, the MacArthur “genius” grant of the music world. This year’s winner is 30-year-old Igor Levit. On Thursday, Jan. 4, Levit performed live at The Greene Space at WQXR in his first New York appearance as a Gilmore Artist. The evening was hosted by Performance Today’s Fred Child.

Recognized as an artist to watch as early as 2005, when he won several prizes as the youngest participant of that year’s Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv, Levit went on to gain wide acclaim for his 2013 Sony Classical recording of Beethoven’s late sonatas, praised by Alex Ross of The New Yorker for its “technical brilliance, tonal allure,” and “intellectual drive.” Since his North American debut in 2014, he has also dazzled audiences and critics in concert halls around the nation, with Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times declaring: “He is the future.”

Levit will receive $300,000 and a spotlight that can be career transforming. Past Gilmore Artists include Leif Ove Andsnes (1998), Piotr Anderszewski (2002), Ingrid Fliter (2006), Kirill Gerstein (2010), and Rafał Blechacz (2014).

→ Video Webcast

You can also watch a live video stream of the show here

Limited complimentary tickets to this event are provided through the generous support of The Gilmore International Keyboard Festival.