David Kaplan, pianist, has been praised for his “grace and fire” by the Boston Globe, and by The New York Times for “striking imagination and creativity.” He has appeared at London’s Barbican Centre, as a guest soloist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and at Miami’s Arscht Center with Itzhak Perlman. This year, he makes recital debuts at Ravinia and Washington’s National Gallery, premiering a commissioning project that interweaves Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze with new miniatures by 15 leading composers, including Augusta Read Thomas, Gabriel Kahane, Caroline Shaw, and Marcos Balter. He will also be appearing at a major contemprory festival at Korean National Museum of Seoul in April.
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 (RSMI), Tanglewood, Bard, and the Mostly Mozart Festival, where he performed in Avery Fisher Hall. As a core member of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, David performs frequently in New York’s most exciting venues, from Zankel Hall to (le) Poisson Rouge, in addition to the group’s groundbreaking international residency work. Since 2011, Kaplan is Co-Artistic Director of Lyrica Chamber Music, a New Jersey concert series now in its twenty-eighth season. Kaplan´s enthusiasm for contemporary music has led him to premiere dozens of works, including piano concertos by Timothy Andres (2008) and Alex Weston (2012). With help from a Fromm Grant, he joins violinst Rachel Lee Priday in commissioning a new violin sonata from Pulitzer Finalist Christopher Cerrone.
Recently awarded the DMA from Yale University, Kaplan’s distinguished mentors over the years include the late Claude Frank, Alfred Brendel, Richard Goode, and Emanuel Ax. Under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant, he studied conducting with Lutz Köhler at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Away from the keyboard, he loves cartooning and cooking, and is mildly obsessed with classic cars.
David Kaplan, piano
David Kaplan, piano