Abdiel Vazquez, Piano

Biography

Abdiel Vázquez’s new album has been hailed by piano guru David Dubal as “fascinating… all first class playing”, and he has been praised by the press in New York after his Carnegie Hall debut for his “improvisatory freedom, sonorous climaxes, and formidable octaves”.

He is the winner of the most important piano competitions in Mexico, and in 2013 he was awarded the First Prize in two competitions open to instrumentalists and singers from all over the world: The World Competition and New York's Shining Stars Debut Series.

Highlights of the 2015-2016 season include the world premiere of “The Sun Pyramid”, a piano concerto by Juan Pablo Contreras, with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico and a reprise with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela in Caracas; his return to Carnegie Hall in New York; his appearance as guest conductor with the Coahuila Chamber Orchestra playing and conducting from the piano Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 and 8th Symphony; and the recital tour “Dreams: Piano Transcriptions of works by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky”. He was also named assistant conductor for Williamsburg’s Opera in Virginia, working on productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Rossini’s La Cenerentola.

Highlights of the previous two seasons include his debut with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, a recital with soprano Maria Katzarava at the Guildhall in London for the city's Mayor and the Mexican President, and the Mexican premier of Samuel Barber's Piano Concerto. His program of transcriptions by Liszt, Tausig, Cziffra, Martucci, and Vázquez has been recorded in CD and published by Piano Classics with the title “Love & Death”.

Born in Monterrey, Mexico, Mr. Vázquez made his debut with his home country’s National Symphony Orchestra performing Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto at 21 years of age, and since then he has appeared every year with all of Mexico's major orchestras.  His engagements in festivals, concerts, competitions, and opera companies have taken him to Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States, in a career that has seen him expand from a concert pianist to an orchestral and operatic conductor.

He currently resides in New York City, where he belongs to the faculty of vocal coaches at Manhattan School of Music and he is also the founder and director of the music school Little Chopins in New York.