Cuban pianist and composer Aldo Lopez-Gavilan headlines sold-out North American appearances at Festival Napa Valley and Classical Tahoe

Celebrated young composer to perform world premiere of his first concerto for piano and orchestra, Emporium, at Classical Tahoe on July 29

HAVANA, Cuba – July 10, 2017 – Renowned Cuban pianist and composer Aldo López-Gavilán continues his foray onto the U.S. music scene with sold-out headline performances at two prominent summer music festivals in California: Festival Napa Valley and Classical Tahoe. Both by-invitation appearances feature López-Gavilán’s original compositions, including the world premiere of his first concerto for piano and orchestra, Emporium.

Back by popular demand after dazzling the Festival Napa Valley audience last summer, López-Gavilán returns to join violinist Joshua Bell for his Seasons of Cuba concert on July 15 at Far Niente Winery. The concert also features soprano Larisa Martinez and the Havana Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Daiana Garcia. He will later headline Festival Napa Valley’s Hot Havana Nights show at the Blue Note Jazz Club on Tuesday, July 18, where the audience will get an up-close look at his virtuosity and genius for improvisation. Lopez-Gavilan joins a superstar Festival Napa Valley lineup that includes vocalists Danielle deNiese, Paulo Szot, Angel Blue and Lester Lynch, conductors Stéphane Denève and Joel Revzen, actor Bill Murray with cellist Jan Vogler, and the lead actors from the Hamilton National Tour.

The artist continues his Northern California tour with back-to-back sold-out performances at Classical Tahoe. Under the baton of maestro Joel Revzen, the Classical Tahoe Orchestra will join Lopez-Gavilan on Saturday, July 29, to perform the world premiere of his Emporium, a concerto for piano and orchestra dedicated to Lopez-Gavilan’s twin 9 years old daughters Andrea and Adriana. López-Gavilán will perform the popular Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin with the Classical Tahoe orchestra on Friday, July 28.

Lopez-Gavilan continues his US tour with performances with the Harlem String Quartet in Edgartown, Mass., Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., Houston, TX, Muskegon, MI and Big Rapids, MI.

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About: Aldo López-Gavilán was born in Cuba to a family of internationally acclaimed classical musicians. His first international triumph was at age eleven, when he won the Danny Kaye International Children’s Award, organized by UNICEF. He made his professional debut at age twelve with the Matanzas Symphony Orchestra. Parallel to his classical abilities, López-Gavilán developed remarkable improvisational skills. He was invited to perform in the world-famous Havana Jazz Festival with legend Chucho Valdés, who called López- Gavilán “simply a genius, a star.” In 1999, López-Gavilán recorded his first CD, En el ocaso de la hormiga y el elefante, which won the 2000 Grand Prix at Cubadisco. He was also invited by Claudio Abbado to perform as soloist in a special concert dedicated to the two hundrhundred-fiftieth anniversary of Mozart’s birth, in which he was accompanied by the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. The following year, Abbado invited him to perform Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 1 in Caracas and Havana. López-Gavilán’s remarkable professional career also includes composing original music for award-winning films and arranging his own compositions for international orchestras, as well as performing in some of the most prestigious music venues of the world.

For more information and booking inquiries, please visit Aldo López-Gavilán’s official website: www.aldomusica.com