Gil Sullivan Piano Master Class

Gil Sullivan Piano Masterclass

Participating Students and Repertoire

Hung Chen-Yi
J. S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue No. 12 in F Minor from WTC Book

Ou Meng-En
Clara Schumann: Soirées Musicales, Ballade in D Minor, Op. 6, No.

Lin Hui-Yu
Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47

Pianist Gil Sullivan: Biography

Australian pianist Gil Sullivan has received high praise from the European media for his performances.

Germany’s Darmstädter Echo wrote: “What appears to be the performance of a single person makes the piano sound like a complete orchestra. It is truly unbelievable!” Weinheimer Nachrichten wrote: “It was a magical moment. Even Brahms himself would have been deeply impressed had he heard Mr. Sullivan perform the Sonata No. 2.” Badische Zeitung wrote: “Mr. Sullivan is not merely a pianist, but a musician of profound cultural depth. The music he performs is filled with his own expression of the soul of music. Listening to his performance, this magical experience seemed to resonate throughout the entire concert hall.”

Mr. Gil Sullivan has performed twice at Carnegie Hall in New York, and both concerts were enthusiastically received, with full houses and spontaneous standing ovations from the audience. He has also given concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus Berlin in Germany, the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, Concertgebouw Brugge in Belgium, the International Performance and Exhibition Center in Chicago, Illinois, the Claremont Opera House in New Hampshire, the Orangerie in Darmstadt, Germany, the Melbourne Recital Centre in Australia, the Vietnam National Opera House, and national concert halls in Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea.

In addition to solo piano recitals, he has performed concerto concerts with the San Francisco Wind Ensemble, the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra in Virginia, and the Aiken Chamber Music Ensemble in South Carolina. Mr. Sullivan continues to tour throughout the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia, and every state of Australia.

His 2009 European recital tour brought him to cities including London, Zurich, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Spaichingen, Budapest, Warsaw, and Prague. Spaichinger Zeitung wrote: “Mr. Gil Sullivan is one of Australia’s great figures. He is distinctive; unlike many young popular pianists, he does not package his CDs in a fashionable or seductive way. Mr. Sullivan does not agree with the views of many mainstream musicians regarding classical performers today. He does not believe that there is only one single way to interpret a work. He is a unique musician. When he sits at the piano, his performance demonstrates not only his outstanding technique, but also his profound philosophical insight into music.”

After completing his studies in Adelaide, South Australia, Mr. Sullivan went to Europe to study in London with the world-renowned American pianist Murray Perahia. He later studied briefly in Vienna with the Austrian national-treasure pianist Paul Badura-Skoda. Recordings of his piano performances have been frequently broadcast on ABC Classic FM in Australia and RTHK Radio 4 in Hong Kong.

In 2006, during numerous music festivals in Australia and Europe, Mr. Sullivan performed twenty of Mozart’s piano sonatas in his recital series. Mr. Sullivan is among the very few pianists in the world today capable of performing Mozart’s complete works. He continues to study Mozart’s oeuvre in depth, including works that are rarely performed or publicly presented.

In 1997, Mr. Sullivan joined pianists from around the world in a series of concerts commemorating the centenary of Brahms’s death, all of which were broadcast live by national FM radio. Mr. Sullivan performed five consecutive piano concerts devoted entirely to Brahms’s works. Critic Roger Knight wrote: “From beginning to end, Mr. Sullivan maintained consistency, continuity, and precision of sound. These qualities demonstrate his superb musical command.” Australian composer Raymond Chapman Smith wrote: “Mr. Sullivan’s performance was compelling. Every phrase successfully conveyed his deep understanding of the music and his passion for it.”

Mr. Sullivan has also worked closely with musicians in the field of chamber music. While traveling around the world, he has performed and recorded with American violinist Charles Castleman. He has also participated in concerts with musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and London Philharmonic orchestras, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and the Medici String Quartet. In addition, he has collaborated with Australian violinists Paul Wright and Jane Peters, as well as cellists Michael Goldschlager and Rachel Johnston.

Mr. Sullivan is also an outstanding and passionate teacher. He has taught at Seoul Institute of the Arts in Korea, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the Hanoi Conservatory of Music in Vietnam, TAFE South Australia, the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory, and the Victorian College of the Arts. He has also given masterclasses and lectures at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the University of South Carolina in the United States, and California State University, Sacramento. In 2003, he successfully presented a lecture-recital on Mozart’s works at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Mr. Sullivan is also a permanent juror of the Cochran International Piano Competition in Warsaw.