By Hazel Scott/ASU
Two-time Grammy-nominated internationally acclaimed concert pianist Dr. Adonis Gonzalez-Matos, who is a professor of piano at Alabama State University, was a featured artist at the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra Masterworks concert.
An MSO favorite, Gonzalez-Matos returned as a soloist in Rachmaninov’s highly virtuosic, lush, and bittersweet Piano Concerto No. 3.
“I was very excited to return and be a part of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra’s first Masterworks concert of 2023. It was an honor to work with its new fantastic conductor, and to play a piece that the orchestra had never played before,” he said.
The Cuban pianist and composer performed with orchestras around the globe, including the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra in Germany, The National Philharmonic of Venezuela, The Viennese Chamber Orchestra in Austria and the Masterworks Festival Orchestra in Washington, D.C. He premiered his own Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica.
He has collaborated with legendary artists such as mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, violinist Arnold Steinhardt and also with clarinetist/saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera. The latter invited him to record as a guest artist for his CD “Jazz-Clazz,” nominated by the Grammy Awards for Best Classical Crossover Album.
He wrote the music for the art film “Behind the Wall,” and he was the featured artist in the Rey-Rodriguez-Productions film “Adios a Cuba.”