Mark Gasser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mark Gasser
|
|
|---|---|
Mark Gasser at a recording session in Newcastle, NSW, in March 2007
|
|
| Background information | |
| Born | 6 July 1972 Sheffield, England |
| Genres | Baroque, Classical, Romantic 20th century |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, classical musician, academic |
| Instruments | Piano |
Mark Gasser (born July 6, 1972) is a famous British concert pianist. He is known for playing a wide variety of music, from classic pieces written hundreds of years ago to modern music.
Contents
A Life in Music
Mark Gasser was born in Sheffield, England, to an Austrian father and a Scottish mother. He showed great talent for the piano from a young age. He studied music at two of the best schools in the United Kingdom: the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also learned from famous pianists like Alfred Brendel and Peter Donohoe.
What Kind of Music Does He Play?
Gasser is famous for playing long and difficult piano pieces. He often performs music by the "Viennese Classics," which includes composers like Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. He also plays works by other great composers such as Grieg, Debussy, and Rachmaninoff.
His musical taste is very broad. He can play everything from Bach's famous Goldberg Variations to complex modern pieces.
Working with Other Musicians
Gasser doesn't just perform alone. He also plays chamber music, which is music created for a small group of instruments. He has performed at major music festivals all over the world.
He also performs concertos, which are musical pieces where a solo instrument, like the piano, plays with a full orchestra. Gasser knows how to play more than 70 different concertos.
Interestingly, he has also worked with modern pop and rock artists like Pink, Jarvis Cocker, and Björk, showing how versatile he is.
A Special Charity Concert
Gasser is also known for using his music to help others. Shortly after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, he performed a special concert at Carnegie Hall. The concert raised money for the families of the rescue workers who lost their lives.
Achievements and Teaching
Gasser's talent has been recognized with special awards. In 2002, he was named "Bösendorfer Artist of the Year" by the famous piano maker. Since 2009, he has been an official Yamaha Artist, meaning the Yamaha company sponsors him.
Besides performing, Gasser is also a dedicated teacher. He has taught "masterclasses," which are special lessons for advanced music students, at some of the world's top music schools. These include the Juilliard School in New York, the University of Oxford in the UK, and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia.
From 2011 to 2013, he was a piano teacher at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He later became the head of the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Brisbane, Australia. Today, he lives in Melbourne.
