JOHN ROBILETTE
John Robilette's piano interpretations are bold, imaginative and often unorthodox, with beautiful tone throughout. The Music and Vision internet magazine in London, said of his recital at St. John ' s Smith Square concert on June 10, 2001: "The American pianist, John Robilette is a musician of engaging individuality, with a tellingly attractive piano tone and idiosyncratic interpretive approach. ..It was this blend of intriguing musical idiosyncrasy and outlook that captivated the enthusiastic audience at his recital at London's St. John's. ..This was Bach played in the old style, imbued with tranquility and grace. ..(and) an appealing depth of tone that avoided all harshness." In their May/June 2001 issue, the American Record Guide said of his third commercial CD recording (Saint -Saens 2nd piano concerto , the Beethoven 4rth, and the Mozart Concert Rondo with the New Philharmonic of Sophia, Bulgaria, released commercially by Musicians Showcase Recordings with Albany distributors, in December of 2000): "Robilette gives a fine performance, and the orchestra plays very well. Competition is tough, but Robilette holds his own. ..Robilette plays the Mozart Rondo the way Schnabel or Edwin Fischer would have. .." This past season, the Lu.xembourger Wort (April 4, 2000) wrote that "the playing of the American artist was clear, sparkling at times. The sound was full, moist and rich; the toucher suave. " And he called the French music on the program, "splendidly celebrated. ..Does he have a slight penchant to the nonchalance and carefree nuance. " Also, this past season, Leslie Gerber, writing for Amazon.com on the internet, called Mr. Robilette's second commercial CD recording "an excellent disc. ..the Variations Symphoniques (Franck) is an excellent performance, very sensitively played by the soloist. ..He also gives us a beautiful version of the Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue, lively playing of a piece that can be tedious. " The Washington Post had already summed up his art by writing that "Robilette is a first-class artist who seems able to intuit effortlessly the composers intent. "
With an unusual background of training under former assistants to both Alfred Cortot and Artur Schnabel, as well as studies with Peter Feuchtwanger and Louis Kentner in London, Mr. Robilette is considered a fascinating link to an era of pianism long vanished. Hailed for his deep understanding of the Classical and Romantic repertoire, Mr. Robilette has toured seventeen countries throughout eastern and western Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. He has performed in many of the major halls of the world including recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Wigmore Hall in London. His commercial CD recordings of piano concerti with the St. Petersburg symphony of Russia and the Russian National Symphony, as well as solo repertoire, have been acclaimed in major record review periodicals in the United States, and have been broadcast throughout that country on public and commercial radio from coast to coast, including: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York city, as well as the BBC radio in London, England. Mr. Robilette's new recording of his London debut at Wigmore Hall in June of 2000, has just been released commercially in the US in October of 2001 ("John Robilette Live at Wigmore Hall in London") on the Musicians Showcase Recording label. He has also given a live recital and interview over WNYC public radio in New York City ("Around New York"). He is featured in a six and one half page interview in the Sept/Oct/ 2001 issue of Fanfare magazine, and has also been featured in interviews and panel discussions over WBJC in Baltimore and the Voice of America. Mr. Robilette has been nationally televised in Brazil and the Dominican Republic and has been invited by the American Ambassadors to Czechoslovakia, Uruguay, Luxembourg and the Dominican Republic to perform at their embassies. In 1981 he was invited to perform a solo recital at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. as part of the inaugural festivities for President Ronald Reagan. He has served as a juror for two international piano competitions in Europe and the United States and is a past member of the International Advisory Board of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Mr. Robilette has also commissioned thirteen major piano solo and chamber works by eminent contemporary American composers. These manuscripts reside in a special archive at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Mr. Robilette also created and directed the Artistic Ambassador program in the 1980s' , a federally sponsored program to promote American musicians around the world.