| In our day and age it
is rare to find genuine exceptionality in the realm of young pianists.
As a new millennium begins in a globalized world, salient artists
and musicians of all backgrounds are those who recognize the beauty
in cultural blending. Samir El Ghoul – South American-born,
of Lebanese descent, schooled by both Eastern and Western institutions
– is the clear result of a complex multiculturalism and a
unique convergence of artistic trends, reflected in his treatment
of a vast range of emotions and musical imagery.
A graduate and former scholarship recipient
of the Ecole Normale de Musique “Alfred Cortot” of Paris,
El Ghoul has benefited from numerous travels for his academic and
artistic development. His journey began in Moscow at the Tchaikovsky
Conservatory, where he studied with Margarita Feodorova and Elisso
Virsaladze.
El Ghoul was awarded third prize at the 25th
International Young Pianists’ Competition in Senigallia, Italy,
and first prize in the W.A. Mozart Competition in Ecuador. He was
a laureate of the 9th festival of the French Piano Institute held
at the Schola Cantorum of Paris, and also received scholarships
from the Claudio Arrau Foundation in Chile and the Albert Roussel
Committee in France.
In 2000 El Ghoul appeared as a soloist of
the Washington D.C. Symphony Orchestra in a concert at the Organization
of American States. Thereafter in Los Angeles, aside from his studies
with Valentina Bravak-Gottlieb at California State University-Long
Beach, he participated in master classes with Alicia De Larrocha.
El Ghoul has given recitals in various cities in Finland, Italy,
Ecuador, England (such as the Bolivar Hall in London and the University
of Liverpool), and Belgium (De Rode Pomp). In France he has appeared
at the Serbian Cultural Center, the International City of Arts,
the Andre Marchal Hall, and the Raymond Du Puy Arts Center.
In 2003, El Ghoul gave the first performance
of “Komplikationen,” written by the modern-day German
Maximilian Jehuda Ewert, in a concert at the Goethe Institute of
Paris. In London he gave the world premiere of the epilogue of the
piano cycle “Twenty-Four and a Half Preludes,” a work
by Ecuadorian composer Arturo Rodas.
2007 marked the start of a series of recitals,
“One Hour for Mozart,” dedicated entirely to explore
the piano works of the Austrian composer. The first of these recitals
took place in Drome, France, followed by several performances in
Paris and various cities in Ecuador, El Ghoul’s country of
birth.
This artist of Lebanese descent has initiated
and currently oversees the project “Pianos in Peace,”
whose first performance, although thwarted at the last minute, was
set to begin at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris as a reaction to
the antagonistic conflict arisen in Lebanese and Israeli territories
in July and August, 2006. This proposal, currently under way, encourages
unity between the Jewish and Arab peoples by gathering pianists
from Israel and other Middle Eastern countries on a common stage
through purely apolitical concerts.
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