Promising young pianists from around the country are featured in this quarterly series hosted by the UW Keyboard Program.
In reviewing pianist Scott Cuellar’s debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, David LaMarche of the New York Concert Review described his performance as “virtuosic in scope and expression, like a great man of the theater,” and praised his ability to “illuminate both the external structure and the emotional core of the work he plays.” A doctoral student at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he studies with Jon Kimura Parker, Cuellar performs music by Schumann and Scriabin in his Jan. 14 recital.
Program
Sonata in c minor, Hob. XVI:20 ................................................ Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
I. Moderato
II. Andante con moto
III. Finale. Allegro
Nocturne No. 11 in f# minor, Op. 104, No. 1 ...................................... Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Sonata No. 9, Op 68 "Black Mass" ............................................. Alexander Scriabin (1871-1915)
Prelude in d minor, Op 23, No. 3 ........................................... Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Prelude in B Major, Op. 32, No. 11
Prelude in c minor, Op. 23, No. 7
I N T E R M I S S I O N
Humoreske, Op. 20 ..................................................................... Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
I. Einfach
II. Hastig
III. Einfach und zart
IV. Innig
V. Sehr lebhaft
VI. Mit einigem pomp
VII. Zum beschluss
Artist Bio: Scott Cuellar, piano
In reviewing pianist SCOTT CUELLAR’s debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, David
LaMarche of the New York Concert Review described Mr. Cuellar’s performance as “virtuosic in
scope and expression, like a great man of the theater,” and praised his “ability to illuminate both
the external structure and the emotional core of the work he plays.” He has been described by
Cleveland Classical as possessing “nerves of steel, a formidable technique, and an architect’s
understanding of structure.” The San Antonio Express-News praised his “luxuriant exploration” of
Liszt’s First Piano Concerto, adding that his “technique was clean, his melodies and cadenzas were
expressive, but most noticeable was his keyboard fluidity.”
Mr. Cuellar won the gold medal at the 2016 San Antonio International Piano Competition,
where he also received prizes for the best performance of both a Romantic work (Schumann’s
Humoreske), as well as of a Russian work (Prokofiev’s 4th Sonata). He was the 1st place winner in
the solo division of the 2013 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, where he also took
2nd place in the concerto division, and was the winner of the Krenek Prize for the best performance
of a sonata by Ernst Krenek. Additionally, he was the 3rd place winner of the 2016 New Orleans
International Piano Competition, the winner of both the Rice and Oberlin concerto competitions,
and was a semifinalist in the 2017 Seoul International Piano Competition, and the 2015 Honens
Piano Competition.
He has given solo recitals at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill
Recital Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Bösendorfersaal, the Newport Music Festival, the
Polytheatre Chongqing and the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in the People’s Republic of China,
and was a guest recitalist at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. He has performed
in solo and collaborative settings at major venues including the Kennedy Center, the Sede
Histórica of Peru’s Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Lima, the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea,
Minneapolis’s Orchestra Hall, New York’s Merkin Hall, Calgary’s Jack Singer Concert Hall, and the
Greene Space of WQXR New York. He has appeared as a soloist with the San Antonio Symphony,
the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Rochester Symphony Orchestra, the Shepherd School Symphony
Orchestra, the Oberlin Orchestra, the Lima Symphony Orchestra, and several others.
Mr. Cuellar has performed with many of the world’s great artists, including Cho-Liang Lin,
Jennifer Koh, Chee-Yun, Desmond Hoebig, Anthony Ross, Aloysia Friedmann, and many others.
He has performed at the La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest, the Orcas Island Chamber Music
Festival and the Cactus Pear Chamber Music Festival. He has been heard on WQXR in New York,
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Houston Public Media, and WGTE Toledo.
Mr. Cuellar holds a Master of Music from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Julian
Martin, and holds a Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied
with Alvin Chow. During his time at Oberlin, he won three of the largest prizes offered to pianists:
the Oberlin Concerto Competition, the Arthur Dann Competition, and the John Elvin Prize for
Juniors. Mr. Cuellar is completing his Doctor of Musical Arts at the Shepherd School of Music at
Rice University, where he studies with Jon Kimura Parker.