Rachel KudoHailed by critics as “an extraordinary pianist who promises to become a legend in this new century,” American pianist Rachel Kudo will perform Sunday, Sept. 24, for the University of Alabama at Birmingham Piano Series.
The UAB Piano Series, presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music, brings the world’s finest pianists to Birmingham. Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence Yakov Kasman, a Van Cliburn medalist, directs the series.
Kudo has been captivating audiences around the globe with her stunning virtuosity and flawless technique and expressive versatility as recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. For her UAB Piano Series engagement, she will perform Beethoven’s 32 Variations in C minor; Schubert 4 Impromptus Op. 90; Mendelssohn’s Andante and Rondo Capriccioso Op. 14; and Schumann’s Carnaval Op. 90.
The performance is set for 4 p.m. in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall. Tickets are $15 general admission, $5 for students through grade 12 and UAB employees; free to UAB students. Call 205-975-2787 for tickets. Call 205-934-7376 or visit www.uab.edu/cas/music.
Kudo gave her first performances with orchestra at age 16 in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and De Falla’s “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with the Warsaw Philharmonic in Poland and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra in Ireland, and appeared in recital at Chopin’s birthplace in Poland, Salle Cortot in Paris, Musikverein in Vienna, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Aspen Music Festival, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, and Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York. Kudo has also made appearances at the Tivoli International Festival in Denmark, Bergen International Festival in Norway, Fazioli Concert Hall in Italy, Nagoya International Youth Music Festival in Japan, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and the Joye in Aiken Festival in the United States.
A winner of the Gilmore Young Artist Award, Kudo has also received international recognition as prizewinner in the U.S. National Chopin and Dublin international piano competitions. She is a recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, I.M.A. Music Award of Japan, a Level I Award at the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts' Arts Recognition and Talent Search, and three-time recipient of the Rohm Music Foundation Scholarship in Japan.
Born in Washington, D.C., Kudo began studying piano at age 4 with Emilio del Rosario at the Music Institute of Chicago. Kudo graduated from the Juilliard School, where she received the Chopin Prize, Arthur Rubinstein Prize, Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship, Juilliard/Sanders/Tel Aviv Museum Recital Prize and was two-time winner of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. She has studied with Richard Goode, Gilbert Kalish, Yoheved Kaplinsky and Kum-Sing Lee, and currently works with Leon Fleisher.