Cecile Licad, Klavier
The artistry of Cecile Licad is a blend of daring musical instincts and the superb training of a "musician's musician." Her natural talent was honed by three of the greatest performer/pedagogues of our time: Rudolf Serkin, Seymour Lipkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski (all at the famed Curtis Institute of Music). Ms. Licad's large repertoire as an orchestral soloist ranges from acclaimed interpretations of the classical repertoire of Mozart and Beethoven to the Romantic literature of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Rachmaninoff to the modern works of Debussy, Ravel, Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Bartok.Cecile Licad began her piano studies at the age of three with her mother, Rosario Licad, in her native Philippines, and later studied with the highly regarded Rosario Picazo. At the age of seven, she made her debut as soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Philippines. As one of the youngest musicians to receive the prestigious Leventritt Gold Medal in 1981, Ms. Licad won immediate international recognition.
She has appeared regularly with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony, and the orchestras of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Phoenix and Vancouver. In Europe she has played with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Bayerisches Rundfunk Orchestra, and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; in Asia, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo's NHK Symphony and her native Philippine Philharmonic. Among the conductors with whom she has collaborated are Claudio Abbado, Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Masur, Sir Neville Marriner, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovich, Gerard Schwarz, Michael Tilson-Thomas, David Zinman, Pinchas Zukerman, as well as the late Sir Georg Solti and Eugene Ormandy..
Ms. Licad is also recognized as a highly accomplished chamber musician. She has made television appearances with Mstislav Rostropovich and has performed regularly with ensembles such as the New York Chamber Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Guarneri Quartet, Takacs Quartet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Music from Marlboro. She also appeared as guest soloist on tour with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Leipzig, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Cologne, among other European cities.
Ms. Licad has performed in recital with Murray Perahia, Peter Serkin and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, with whom she has appeared at Lincoln Center, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. She performs regularly with cellist Alban Gerhardt, performing throughout Europe and the United States, including at the Frick Collection in New York City. She appeared as soloist in the Steinway Piano Sesquicentennial Celebration at Carnegie Hall (150 years of piano making and service to pianists) in June 2003 performing six Rachmaninoff Songs with operatic tenor Ben Heppner in honor of one of Steinway's and the world's greatest pianist/composers. Among her engagements in season 2006-07 are performances with Buffalo Philharmonic, Waterbury Symphony and Tennessee Philharmonic, and recitals in the U.S. and in Europe. She also plays Brahms Piano Quintet with the Guarneri String Quartet.
Ms. Licad's summer festival appearances have included Caramoor, Tanglewood, the International Music Festival of Seattle, Mostly Mozart Festival (in both New York and Tokyo) and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
Ms. Licad has recently released a new CD of three works by Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin, Gaspard de la Nuit, and Sonatine, on the MusicMasters label and an All-Gottschalk CD on the Naxos label. Previous solo recordings for Sony Classical include Schumann's Carnaval, Papillions and Toccata in C Major, released to critical acclaim; her debut recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Claudio Abbado; and her recording of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor and Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, André Previn conducting the London Philharmonic (Winner of the Grand Prix du Disque Frederic Chopin). For Angel/EMI, Ms. Licad and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg recorded the Franck Sonata in A Major, Brahms Sonata No. 2 in A Major, and Sonatensatz in C Major; and her solo All-Chopin CD's which include Etudes, op. 25 and op. 10; Scherzo in b-flat minor, op. 31; Ballade in g minor, op. 23; and Nocturne in F Major, No. 1, op. 15.