Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero (born May 10, 1970) is a Venezuelan pianist, known in particular for her real-time improvisation of complex musical pieces on themes suggested by her audience and other sources, as well as for performances of standard classical repertoire. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, of an American-born mother and a Venezuelan father, Montero was seven months old when her parents introduced her to the piano. She used her right index finger to play individual notes. When she was fifteen months old, her parents noticed she was picking out a familiar tune on the little piano. Three months later, before she could speak, she had picked out the melody of the National Anthem.

Montero began formal piano lessons at age four and gave her first public performance at the age of five. Aged eight, she made her concerto debut at the National Theater in Caracas, performing the complete Haydn D Major Piano Concerto with the Orquesta Nacional Juvenil de Venezuela (National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela), conducted by José Antonio Abreu. At the age of nine, she was awarded a government scholarship to study in the US. From 1990 until 1993, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Hamish Milne. In 1995, she won third prize at the XIII International Chopin Piano Competition.