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The Belgian-boren violists, Lorenzo Gatto , is born out of Belgian-Italian parents. When he studied violin at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel - with dreams of law, math and becoming an aeronautical engineer - the first encounter with the Queen Elisabeth Competition turned out to be a confronting experience. He felt the need to start anew, and studied for four years with Boris Kuschnir in Vienna. Among his teachers were also: Véronique Bogaerts, Augustin Dumay, and Herman Krebbersr. He also worked with great musicians such as Salvatore Accardo, Zakhar Bron, Pamela Frank, Robert Mann, Midori Gotō, Seiji Ozawa, and Julian Rachlin. Gatto was really discovered by the public and international critics in 2009 when he won a 2nd Prize and the Public’s Prize at the prestigious Concours Musical International Reine Elisabeth (Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition).
The invitation to the ‘Rising Star’ 2010 opened for Lorenzo Gatto the doors to the most prestigious European stages such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, or the Wiener Musikverein. In Belgium, he has become a major artist for Bozar - the Palais des Beaux-Arts (artist-in-residence for the 2010-2011 season) and Flagey in Brussels. The Rising Star status expanded the possibilities of collaboration with fellow instrumentalists, orchestras and conductors, amongst them Andrey Boreyko, J.C. Casadesus, A. Dumay, Philippe Herreweghe, E. Krivine, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Martin Sieghart, V. Sinaisky, Vladimir Spivakov, Jan Willem de Vriend, Walter Weller, and Jaap van Zweden. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, Belgian National Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia… have invited him as a soloist. Outside Europe, HE recently performed in Japan, South Korea, the USA and Abu-Dhabi.
A passionate chamber musician, Lorenzo Gatto regularly plays with the pianists Roberto Giordano and Denis Kozhukhin as well as the new Trio Saint-Exupéry.Recently, he has started collaborating with the talented young Belgian pianist Julien Libeer. Trilogy is a separate endeavour, to balance out the classical career. Together with violinists and close friends Hrachya Avanesyan and Yossif Ivanov, Lorenzo Gatto started this pop trio in 2011. Arrangements and own compositions present new ways of listening to the sound world of strings.
Lorenzo Gatto makes recordings on a regular basis. His discography was recently enlarged with a recording of Martinu’s Violin Concerto No. 2 for violin with the Belgian National Orchestra under the direction of Walter Weller. He also recorded works of George Enescu, W.A. Mozart, Schubert and Vieuxtemps. On the 2015 recording of L.v. Beethoven, François Lafon wrote: ’Style, tone, musicality, inventiveness: Lorenzo Gatto is the true heir of the famous Franco-Belgian school of violin - from Vieuxtemps through Ysaÿe, Grumiaux and Dumay. His Concerto breathes freely but without pathos, his Romances are lyrical wonders.’
Recent highlights include: Slovenian Radio Orchestra conducted by Martin Sieghart: Alban Berg: Violin Concerto ("To the memory of an angel") (October 2013); Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège conducted by Christian Arming: Alexander Glazunov: Violin Concerto (March 2014); Kuopio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alberto Hold-Garrido: Camille Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3 and Ernest Chausson: Poème (May 2015); Belgian National Orchestra conducted by Andrey Boreyko: Benoit Mernier: World première of Violin Concerto (dedicated to Lorenzo Gatto) (February 2015); Beethoven Festival at Flagey, Brussels. Complete Violin Sonatas with Maria-João Pires, Augustin Dumay and Julien Libeer (April 2016).
As a committed musician, in 2007 Lorenzo Gatto co-founded the Cl4ssiK association with the aim of raising young people’s awareness of classical music.
Lorenzo Gatto plays a J.B. Vuillaume from 1864. He currently lives in Brussels, Belgium. |
