A genius with amazing skill, and charisma that captivates the audience in just one touch of his piano! !
~Impact at the Chopin Competition~
In 1985, at the 11th Chopin International Piano Competition (when Stanislav Bunin won), Gekic advanced to the third preliminary round, but was not selected as a finalist due to his extremely intense performance. causing the judges to declined one after another. Gekic received overwhelming support from the audience, and as a result, Gekic's name became well known to the world.
The following year, gekic preformed as a phantom final qulifier, and with his preformance of Chopin's piano concerto No.2, and encore Piano Sonata No.3. the audinece was blown away by his preformance and lead to him being talked about for decades to come
~ Voices of rave reviewws from all over the world~
Kemal Gekic is not human...
〜South Florida Classical Review〜
Kemal Gekic is a genius charismatic blade. Totally unconventional, it's a gamble. He is an outspoken performer who evokes instinctive reactions.
~Boston Globe Magazine~
The most talented pianist since Horowitz...
~Boston Globe Magazine~
One of the few outstanding pianists in history.
As Liszt was once called, Gekic is the centaur of the piano world.
〜Adrian Corleonis, Fanfare, USA〜
A glorious show that explodes with frenzy, which seems to transcend the laws of nature... utterly captivating and utterly dominating us.
〜Le Devoir, Canada〜
●Profile
Kemal Gekic
"Fiery", "bold", sometimes "provocative", "exciting", "delicate"...He is the best contemporary music artist that have received worldwide acclaim from both audiences and critics alike. These are just a few words to describe the formidable pianist Kemal Gekic.
Born in Split, Croatia in 1962. At the age of one and a half, he surprised his family by playing melodies on the piano. The young child prodigy received piano lessons from her aunt, Professor Baturina, and in 1978 entered Mihajlović's class at the Novi Sad Conservatory in Yugoslavia. In 1982, he obtained a diploma with the highest score ever, and was immediately hired as a piano teacher, a position he held until 1999. In 1981, he won the 2nd prize at the Liszt International Piano Competition, and in 1983 he won many prizes such as the Viana da Motta (Lisbon) and the Yugoslavian Artists Competition (Zabreg).
In 1985, he completed a master's course at the Conservatoire, and in the same year caused a sensation at the Chopin International Competition. Although the judges' evaluations were divided and he did not make it to the finals, he won the hearts of audiences and critics, and received many invitations from overseas. The Chopin Society of Hanover awarded him a special prize for the best sonata for his performance at the Chopin Competition. Gekichi's recording at the Chopin Competition sold 60,000 copies in Germany that year alone, and the same CD released by Victor Entertainment sold 80,000 copies in Japan. In the same year, he was invited by the Warsaw Philharmonic to perform Chopin's Piano Concerto in E Minor at the Philharmonic Hall. In the same hall and with the same orchestra where the finals of the Chopin Competition were held, he stunned the Warsaw audience and performed Chopin's Sonata No. 3 for the encore.
Since the 1985 Chopin Competition, He has performed in Germany, Denmark, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Italy, Canada, as well as touring in Russia and Japan and his home country of Croatia. Documentary programs about Gekic's performance and his life have been broadcast by RAI Italian National Broadcasting, Portuguese Television, at the time Yugoslavian Television, NHK, Poland POLTEL, RTV Lower Saxony West Germany, USSR National Broadcasting, Intervision, and CBC. , aired on PBS and received a great response.
In the 1990s, Gekici suddenly withdrew from performing activities and entered a period of intensive practice aimed at reaching a higher level. One of the results of this recharging period is the recording of all of Liszt's transcendental technical etudes, and this CD is particularly highly rated among Gekichi's recordings. Liszt-Rossini's transcriptions (including the William Tell Overture), released subsequently on Naxos, were awarded the Rosette Award by the Penguin Guide to Music. Yugoslavia (VAI), Montreal (Palexa) and also at the Williamstown International Piano Festival in Pennsylvania have recorded Volume 2 of Liszt's Year of Pilgrimage.
In recent years, the performance activities around the world have expanded further and continue to receive support from enthusiastic audiences. 'Dare to step where no pianist has ever reached' is his motto. In Gekichi's recitals, we never see so-called standard interpretations. The quintessence of the work, exposed to a knife-like musical sensibility, fiery imagination, precise striking dexterity, with a vibrant color palette of sounds, and an ever-growing interpretation of the work's spiritual meaning. to face.
At Gekic's concerts, the audience is certainly amazed by his transcendent technique, attracted, overwhelmed, entertained, and riveted. Ultimately, however, the audience experiences an unforgettable impression and shock under Gekichi's intention to convey the spiritual world of the work.
●From recent concert reviews in Japan
■ July 1, 2010 Musashino Academia Musicae Beethoven Hall, Tokyo ■
The whole thing was like an epic drama. Beethoven-Liszt's "Fate" attracts listeners with its symphonic and vivid expression, followed by Brahms, inviting him to a deep forest. …Gekichi's crazy keystrokes and expressions, which are more like the madness.
■October 26, 2009 Tokyo, Casals Hall■
In Chopin, he brought out his inner expression with a delicate expression. All 4 songs of "Ballad" have a delicate emotion, the muted sounds and pale tones are excellent, and you can also feel the contrasting intensity... (Liszt). A sonata is a drama-like expression that occurs between themes. Each musical idea has a vividness that seems to have a will, sometimes it runs violently, and sometimes it is played with a soft touch, and the characteristics of each theme stand out... "Consolation" is a peaceful heavenly state. By Ongaku Gendai (February 2010)