Kevin Kenner, piano
Distinguished Artist Series

Sunday, April 24, 2022  |  3 p.m.
UTRGV Performing Arts Complex  |  Edinburg
Free Admission

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Recognized as one of the foremost Chopin interpreters of our time, Kevin Kenner was the top prize winner in the 1990 Chopin Competition in Warsaw, as well as in the Tchaikovsky and the Terrance Judd Competitions, among others.

Born in California, Kenner was introduced early to the classical music traditions in Poland and as a teenager studied in Kraków with Ludwik Stefaski, one of Poland’s most distinguished pianists. Returning to the U.S., Kenner continued his studies with Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and worked with Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Center. Stanisaw Skrowaczewski, who frequently performed and recorded with Artur Rubinstein, described his concert tour collaborations with Kenner as the most sensitive and beautiful he remembered.

Kevin Kenner has performed and recorded with violinist Kyung-Wha Chung and concertized with the Tokyo, Escher, Belcea, Mosaiques, Apollon Musagete, Endellion and Vogler Quartets. In addition, he has frequently been invited to appear at the Verbier Festival and at Chopin and His Europe Festival in Warsaw.

A distinguished recording artist, Kenner’s interpretations of works by Paderewski and Chopin were selected as recordings of the month by the Gramophone Magazine. Other Kenner recordings were heralded by Diapason, Fanfare and Polish National Radio. After teaching for more than a decade as professor at London’s Royal College of Music, Kenner accepted a post at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, where he continues to prepare young and talented pianists for international performance careers. He has served as juror at the Busoni Competition in Bolzano and at the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw, among many others.

Throughout his distinguished career, Kevin Kenner’s artistry as a concert and recording artist was praised by highly influential magazines and media outlets. The Gramophone Magazine wrote of “Kenner’s sense of the long line and overall architecture” in Chopin’s late works and noted that “His approach to Paderewski’s music reveals long acquaintance and great affection, with beautifully judged rubato and beguiling intimacy.” While Le Nouvel Observateur noted that, “If we only discover one pianist during this year of Chopin, let it be Kevin Kenner,” The Washington Post summed it up best by reporting that, “His recital revealed an artist whose intellect, imagination and pianism speak powerfully and eloquently.”

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