David Kaplan, Pianist

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 the last season, he performed as recitalist in Berlin, Barcelona, and New York, as chamber musician at the Ravinia Festival, and as soloist with conductor Jon Robertson in the Brahms d minor concerto. He also premiered a concerto written for him by young rising composer Timothy Andres, and performed Mozart’s Concerto K414, conducting from the keyboard.

In addition to solo appearances, David’s enthusiasm for chamber music has brought him performance opportunities with several distinguished series: he was the youngest artist ever invited to appear at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and he has also performed for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Chamber Music Northwest in Oregon. While still a teenager, he was invited by Itzhak Perlman to perform at the Mostly Mozart Festival. In David’s two seasons performing at the Tanglewood Festival, he performed as a concerto soloist in the Festival of Contemporary Music, and worked with such renowned new music performers as Ursula Oppens and Charles Rosen. David Kaplan recently completed his studies at the Yale School of Music, with Claude Frank. His principle childhood mentors were Walter Ponce and Miyoko Lotto, and he has also learned from many other distinguished musicians, including Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Murray Perahia, and Manahem Pressler. He earned his Bachelor at the University of California in Los Angeles, where he was the winner of the 2004 Concerto Competition and the 2002 and 2003 Artur Rubinyi Piano Competition. David has been a prize winner at Kingsville and Los Angeles Liszt International competitions, and has been a semi-finalist at the Young Concert Artist Auditions and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.