Pianist Ingrid Fliter Performs Recital

Argentinean pianist Ingrid Fliter, recipient of the prestigious 2006 Gilmore Artist Award, performed a recital for the Westminster School community April 20 in Werner Centennial Center.  The performance was made possible by an anonymous gift from a Westminster alumnus.
Ms. Fliter is the fifth pianist and first woman to be honored with the Gilmore Artist Award, which is made to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses broad and profound musicianship and charisma, and who desires and can sustain a career as a major international concert artist. The cash prize is $300,000. Photo Gallery

Her Westminster program included pieces from Beethoven and Chopin as well as two Argentinean composers, Astor Piazzolla and Alberto Ginastera. In between pieces, Ms. Fliter gave insight into the composers, the compositions and her playing. Following the performance, she answered questions from the audience and said that winning the Gilmore Award has changed her life radically.  “All my life, I have been searching for a door to open,” Ms. Fliter said.  “When the award came, the artistic recognition and economic help were such an honor.  It was like a big arm raising me.”

After the recital, Ms. Fliter attended a reception with students, faculty and invited guests who had a chance to meet her. She said it was great to visit Westminster and that she had never played to a school audience that was so attentive. “ I was very surprised and have never had this reception,” she said. Josh Zalinger ’09 said he was “very impressed with the energy she used in her performance,” Natalie Chan ’09 said, “She was the best pianist I’ve ever heard” and Young Bahn ’07 said, “She was brilliant.”

Born in Buenos Aires in 1973, Ms. Fliter began her piano studies in Argentina and then moved to Europe in 1992 to continue studying.  She began making public recitals at the age of 11 and made her professional orchestra debut at 16. Already the winner of several Argentinean competitions, she went on to win first prizes at other international competitions.

Ms. Fliter has performed with orchestras and in recital at many of the major concert halls worldwide. She made her United States debut as the featured soloist on a tour with the Warsaw Philharmonic in 2002, performing at the Kennedy Center and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.  She also has appeared in recital at the Kennedy Center as well as at the National Gallery and Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.  Ms. Fliter made her major American orchestra debut with the Atlanta Symphony in January 2006, just days after the announcement of her Gilmore Award.  Other U.S. engagements include the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, Mich., the Miami International Piano Festival, the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as recital debuts in San Francisco, Chicago and New York at Carnegie Hall.