Steven Vanhauwaert, Piano

Biography

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times for his ‘impressive clarity, sense of structure and monster technique’, Steven Vanhauwaert has garnered a wide array of accolades, amongst which the Maurice Lefranc award, the Rotary Prize, the Galiot Prize and the USC Concerto Competition. In October 2004 he won the Grand Prize at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, which enabled him to tour through the US and Hungary.

To date, Mr. Vanhauwaert has appeared in major venues with orchestras such as the Pacific Symphony, the Flemish Symphony, the Oak Ridge Symphony, the USC Symphony, the Bryan Symphony, Collegium Instrumentale, the Concord Jazz Ensemble, the Auburn Symphony, the Eastern Sierra Chamber Orchestra, the Peninsula Symphony, and Prima la Musica, amongst others. He performs frequently throughout Europe, Asia and the US, as a recitalist and in chamber music ensembles. He has been invited to perform in major concert venues such as the Concertgebouw in Brugge, Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, Bovard Auditorium in Los Angeles, the Singel in Antwerp, the Great Hall of the Brussels Conservatory, the Great Hall of the Budapest Liszt Conservatory, as well as numerous other prestigious venues in Bulgaria, Hungary, China, the US, the Netherlands, France, Canada, the UK, Austria, and Spain. In June 2010, he made his Chinese solo debut tour culminating with a recital at the renowned National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, which was received with great critical acclaim. He was immediately invited for return performances in the prestigious Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, amongst others.

He has been a frequent guest in festivals such as: the Jacaranda Music Festival, the Festival of Flanders, the Eastern Sierra Music Festival, Musik Zentral, the Malibu Coast Music Festival, the Sundays-at-two series, the Salastina Festival, le Salon de Musiques, the Sundays Live Series, the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, and Euterpe, among many others.

An avid champion of lesser known repertoire, Mr. Vanhauwaert has given the West Coast premiere of Messiaen’s Fantaisie for violin and piano at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and the US premiere of Eric Tanguy’s Piano Trio. In 2013, he gave the US premiere of the Scharwenka Piano Quintet at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Los Angeles. He frequently performs works by Walter Arlen, Emilio Colon, Viktor Ullman, Leon Kirchner, Jeroen D’hoe, Nico Abondolo, Chen Yi, Tan Dun, Maria Newman, Gernot Wolfgang, Tobias Picker, and Karel Goeyvaerts, to name a few.

In 2010, his debut album featuring works by Schumann, Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, and Debussy, was well received in the press. Additional recordings include Paris 1913, which features works by Ravel, Poulenc, Satie and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for 4 hands. His latest recording with works by Alfredo Casella, and Stravinsky’s Petrushka will be released in early 2014.  Many of Mr. Vanhauwaert’s performances have been broadcast live on networks such as K-MZT, K-CSN, K-USC, K-PFK, W-HKB, W-UOT, K-UAT, W-FMT, RTBF, WTV, PBS, and KLARA.

Mr. Vanhauwaert conducted his piano studies in Brussels at the Royal Conservatory under the auspices of Boyan Vodenitcharov. He continued his musical development in Los Angeles with professors Kevin Fitz-Gerald, James Bonn, and John Perry at the USC Thornton School of Music. He is frequently invited to give guest lecture recitals and masterclasses in universities throughout the world.

(from stevenvanhauwaer.com)