Activities

“I was immensely impressed by the professionalism, integrity and enormous personal commitment of his interpretations.”

- John O'Conor

David Kaplan, Pianist

Since his debut as a concerto soloist at the age of nine, pianist David Kaplan has been lauded for his “grace and fire” at the keyboard, and most recently by The New York Times for “striking imagination and creativity.” First appearing in recital at the Bard Festival in 1994, he has performed in such prestigious venues as Weill and Avery Fisher halls. In recent seasons, he performed as recitalist in Berlin, Barcelona, Chicago, and New York, and as a chamber musician in the US, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark. Just now, Kaplan completes work on a special collaboration with Canadian artist Patrick Bernatchéz on a recording of Bach´s Goldberg Variations using a prepared piano (see the official website of the project here).

Kaplan´s enthusiasm for contemporary music has led him to premiere works of many composers, including Ezra Laderman and Timothy Andres, whose concerto, Home Stretch, was written for him. This spring, he and Andres “dazzle on the ivories” in their debut recording for Nonesuch Records, featuring the composer´s Shy and Mighty, for two pianos . The highly acclaimed disc has earned them a top spot in music writer Alex Ross´s CD Picks. He also drew critical praise from The Boston Globe and The New York Times for his performances at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music of the challenging Hans Abrahamsen Piano Concerto.

Having collaborated from an early age with his father, violinist Mark Kaplan, David is a veteran of many distinguished chamber music festivals and series: he has appeared at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest, Barge Music, and the Canadian festivals of Banff and Orford. In addition, he has been a guest at Ravinia, Tanglewood, and the Mostly Mozart Festival, where he performed at the invitation of Itzhak Perlman.

Most recently a student of Claude Frank at the Yale School of Music, his principal childhood mentors were Walter Ponce and Miyoko Lotto. In addition, he has had the opportunity to learn from many other distinguished pianists, including Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Anton Kuerti, Murray Perahia, Manahem Pressler, and Andre Watts. He has also worked extensively with several renowned new music performers, including Gilbert Kalish, Ursula Oppens and Charles Rosen.

Having spent the past two years in Berlin, where he has studied conducting under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant, Kaplan will move to New York this fall to join Carnegie Hall´s resident chamber group, the ACJW Ensemble.

Away from the piano, David is a passionate cook, and is mildly obsessed with classic cars.

 

CONCERTOS:

HANS ABRAHAMSEN: Piano Concerto (composed 1999) TIMOTHY ANDRES: Home Stretch (2008, for David Kaplan) BACH: Concerto in d minor, BWV1052 BEETHOVEN: Concerto no. 2 in B-flat, Op. 19; Concerto no. 3 in c minor, Op. 37; Concerto no. 4 in G major, Op. 58; Concerto no. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73; Choral Fantasia in C major, Op. 80 BRAHMS: Concerto no. 1 in d minor, op. 15 MOZART: Concerto no. 12 in A major, K. 414; Concerto no. 17 in G, K. 453; Concerto no. 20 in d minor, K. 466; Concerto no. 24 in c minor, K. 491 PROKOFIEV: Concerto no. 1 in D-flat, Op. 10 RACHMANINOFF: Concerto no. 2 in c minor SAINT-SAËNS: Concerto no. 2 in g minor, op. 22 SCHUMANN: Concerto in a minor, Op. 54 SHOSTAKOVICH: Concerto no. 2 in F, op. 107