PIANIST – INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL PROMOTER
Gaitán was the only pianist who played in the Four UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Córdoba
(ABC Journal October 4, 2016).
“It stands out in each of its interpretations for its brilliant energy and unmistakably Spanish harmonies”
Founder and artistic director of the “International Piano Festival (FIP) Guadalquivir” Born in Villa del Río (Cordoba – Spain), she is an internationally recognised pianist for her energy and interpretative personality, chosen by EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) as a representative of Spanish musical culture in Italy.
Additionally, she was nominated for the “Princess of Girona 2018 Foundation Award” by Carlos López Otín (National Research Prize “Ramón y Cajal) and awarded for her “3Tú” cultural management project.
Recently, Gaitán has distinguished herself as an artist “Marca España” (España Global) for her artistic quality research and as a representative of Spanish talent worldwide. Besides, in 2017, for her musical initiative, she received the “artistic recognition of the talent of the VIII Biennial of Art of Villa del Río”.
She is part of the catalog of Spanish artists AECID (Agency for International Development Cooperation of the Government of Spain) and has performed in the show “Córdoba y sus Patios” promoted by the Instituto Cervantes and Acción Cultural Española in Milan.
Gaitán has won numerous international competitions including the 11th “Città di Padova” International Competition, the 16th “Antonio Beltrami” Prize, the “6th Antonio Salieri Competition”, the 7th “Montichiari” International Competition and the 5th Competition for Young Performers “Città di Lissone”.
She has recorded “Images of Spain through dance” for the Italian magazine Amadeus and later for the Swiss label BAM – MUSIC International. María Dolores Gaitán giving numerous interviews and live radio broadcasts for Rai3 and Classical Radio Italy, Radio and Spanish Television (RTVE), Canal Sur TV and Radio and Antena 3 TV. Besides that, she also recorded for the film “Fiore” by Claudio Giovannesi, Cannes Film Festival ‘2016.
CV 2020/21 only for this season
She graduated in piano at the “Rafael Orozco” Music Conservatory and concurrently in Music Pedagogy at the University of Educational Sciences of Cordoba.
Gaitán completed her academic career with two Specialist Masters at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory of Milan intensively studying Chamber Music and Piano, obtaining the highest grades. The above study involved master pianists such as Larisa Tedtoeva, Emanuela Piemonti, Paolo Bordoni, Jorge Luis Prats, Lilya Zilberstein, Alexander Kandelaki, Claudio Martinez Mehner, Pietro Soraci and Rafael Quero in naming a few.
She develops her concert activity as soloist, in chamber music and orchestra in Europe and America, playing in theaters including: Loggione of Teatro Alla Scala, Auditorium La Verdi in Milan, Argentina Theater in Rome in Italy, Gran Teatro Falla in Cadiz, Auditorio ADDA in Alicante, Real Academia de las Bellas Artes de San Fernando de Madrid, Góngora Theater, UNESCO World Heritage such as Mosquea- Cathedral and archaeological site of Medina Azahara from Córdoba, Dürres amphitheater in Albania, Drama Theater and concert hall of the New Bulgaria University (Bulgaria).
She played as soloist with Córdobas Orchestra, Granada Academics Orchestra, Milano Classical Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the G. Verdi Conservatory and she played under the direction of E. Syrkin, S. Fedoseev, Marco Pace, Nahel Al Halabi and Carlos Domínguez- Nieto.
Among her upcoming engagements, Gaitán will perform the concert for piano and orchestra “Noches en los Jardines de España” by Manuel di Falla in the 39ª Rachmaninov International Festival in Russia and piano concert op.15 by G. Sgambati with Staatphilarmonie Rheinland – Pfalz. In chamber music formation, she plays assiduously alongside renowned artists such as Mikhail Milman of the Kopelman Quartet, Sergey Teslya, ex- shoulder of the Spanish National Orchestra, Mario Hossen, Luisa Sello and Chiara Torselli.
Their support for giving voice and visibility to women’s work in music is also latent in different actions, premiering 13 works by contemporary Spanish women for the “Bartok’s Challenge” project commissioned by the National Center for Spanish Musical Difusion (CNDM) and the Junta de Andalucía for the XVth Festival of Spanish Music of Cádiz. Likewise, within “1781 Tribute” he is rescuing works by women composers that have been forgotten with a concert at the OAS next to the Headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington.
She has made a large world premieres and commissioned new compositions, a significant contribution to expanding contemporary music. Some of them are “hebrew rhapsody” and Capriccio Spagnolo by Danilo Lorenzini, inspired by the Songs of Maimonides, “Iquitum” by Valter Sivilotti, “En torno al Guadalquivir ” by Miguel Ángel Gris, “Memoria del Río” by Tomás Marco or the arrangement for the Seville Symphony for quintet ensemble by Joaquín Turina’s grandson, José Luis Turina.
CV 2020/21 only for this season
Gaitán has carried out important research work and musical interpretation, recovering the repertoire of the Heritage as well as the roots of Al-Ándalus in a current language. This fact has led him to create an unprecedented musical and gastronomic project with the 2 Michelin star chef, Paco Morales. Among its most outstanding imminent projects is the Commemoration of 240 years of international relations between Spain and the US under the name of “1781 Tribute” carried out by the Academy of Sciences and Military Arts of Spain (ACAMI) and the Nauta Institute.
As cultural manager and promoter, in 2010 she founded the Guadalquivir Pianístico Cultural Association and created the International Piano Festival (FIP) Guadalquivir (www.guadalquivirpianistico.org) in order to promote and expand the sights of classical musical culture. Thanks to its solidity, quality and innovation, the festival has achieved distinctions such as the VIIIº Hasday Ibn Shaprut Prize awarded by the Communication, Public Relations and Protocol of Córdoba and in 2017 it was chosen by the Consulate of Spain in Milan as the official event of the National Day from Spain. Along with this, it developed the unprecedented event of “Mobile Piano” being the first festival to perform piano concerts on the terrace of a tourist bus.
Internationally famous artists such as Leslie Howart, Rosa Torres – Pardo, Pasión Vega, Luis Fernando Pérez, Andrea Bacchetti have participated in the FIP Guadalquivir.
In the educational sector Gaitán imparts and organises international masterclasses. Recently, she held several lectures at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia; she was also a state professor at the Conservatory of Music Maestro Chicano Muñoz.
