Kevin Fitz-Gerald

Pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald enjoys a versatile performing career as recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician. His performances have garnered international acclaim and he has been recognized for his “hypnotically powerful and precise” pianism and “dynamic and distinguished” interpretations. His concert tours and performances have taken place in major concert halls, universities and concert organizations throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, South America, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Notable venues include Carnegie Recital Hall (New York), The Mormon Tabernacle (Utah), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Roy Thompson Hall (Toronto), Place des Arts (Montreal), Izumi Hall (Osaka), Suntory Hall (Tokyo), National Gallery (Kingston) and Town Hall (Melbourne). He has appeared with several Canadian and American orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Canadian Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Los Angeles Cameratta, Utah Chamber Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Orchestra at Temple Square. Recent orchestral performances have included concerti by Dvorak, Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Berg and Poulenc.

Mr. Fitz-Gerald's concerts have frequently been recorded for local, national and international radio and television networks in Canada, USA, South America, France, Japan and Australia. His CD recordings can be found on the Summit, Quatro Corde, AFCM and GM Records labels. In constant demand as a chamber musician, he has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Patrick Gallois, Stephen Isserlis, Richard Stolzman, Alan Civil, Camilla Wicks, Midori, Eudice Shapiro, Milton Thomas, Karen Tuttle, Donald McInnes, Ronald Leonard, the Bartok, St. Petersburg and St. Lawrence String Quartets.

For many years, Kevn Fitz-Gerald was studio pianist in summer programs for many leading artist teachers of our time including William Primrose, Lillian Fuchs, Zara Nelsova, Janos Starker, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Zoltan Szekely, Lorand Fenyves and Marcel Moyse. He regularly performs two-piano and four-hand recitals with Bernadene Blaha appearing at prestigious festivals, conventions, music teacher’s symposiums and concert venues throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The Blaha/Fitz-Gerald Duo has performed extensively throughout Canada under the auspices of the “Piano Six” program, the Canada Council Touring Office and the “Cross Country Classics” program.

Mr.Fitz-Gerald also enjoys an international reputation as a teacher, presenting master classes and lecture-symposiums throughout the world. His students have been prize winners in many major piano and chamber music competitions including the Rubinstein International Piano Competition, Vilna International Piano Competition, IBLA International Piano Competition, American Orff-Schullwerke International Competition, ARD International Piano Competition, the Music Teacher's National Association national competition, Los Angeles Liszt International Piano Competition, Jean Francaix International Competition, Canadian National Music Competitions and the Colman National Chamber Music Competition. Today his students can be found winning competitions, performing, recording and teaching at many of the finest conservatories and universities throughout the world. In addition to his position as associate professor at the Thornton School, Mr. Fitz-Gerald is also a regular visiting artist teacher at the Banff School of Fine Arts, a frequent master class teacher at the Colburn School for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, the Aria International Summer Institute in Indiana, as well as visiting faculty at many other national and international music festivals and institutions throughout Canada and the USA.

Born in Kelowna, British Columbia, Mr. Fitz-Gerald was a full scholarship student at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, The Banff Centre School of Fine Arts and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto where his principal teachers were Marek Jablonski, Robin Wood and Alma Brock-Smith. In addition, he has worked extensively with Menahem Pressler, John Perry, Gyorgy Sebok and Leon Fleisher. He has won several prestigious competitions, grants and awards including the Du Maurier Search for the Stars, CBC National Radio Auditions and the Young Artists’ National Piano Competition.