Program Biography                                                  

Since making his debut at the age of twelve in Chicago’s Petty  Auditorium, pianist Milton Rubén Laufer has enjoyed performing throughout the world to the delight of audiences and critics alike. A Chicago native of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, Laufer began playing the piano at three years of age, and his training includes studies at Chicago’s Music Center of the North Shore, the Moscow Conservatory, the Gnessin Institute-Moscow, the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, the University of Michigan, and Rice University in Houston. Throughout his career, Laufer has garnered many prizes and awards both nationally and internationally on the competitive stage. Top prizes in the Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition, Young Keyboard Artists International Piano Competition, Union League Civic Arts Foundation competition, the Nena Wideman International Piano Competition, and the National Federation of Music Clubs’ Stillman-Kelley Award highlight some of Laufer’s competitive accomplishments. His performance at the 10^th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was declared, "fanfare-like...vividly colored... Debussy's L'Isle Joyeuse and Prokofiev's Third Sonata confirmed an initial impression of Laufer as a complete pianist..." Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Laufer has performed in venues ranging from New York’s Lincoln Center to Moscow’s Tchaikowsky Hall. His appearances on Spanish-speaking television and radio broadcasts have been aired throughout South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.  Former U.S. President George Bush Sr., Secretary of State James Baker, Spanish Ex-President Felipe Gonzáles, U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Edward Romero, and members of the Spanish Royal Family are among the many political dignitaries for whom Laufer has performed. The Illinois Senate drafted a resolution bill in Laufer’s honor in 1990 prior to his departure for Moscow.

Among the many distinguished conductors and composers whom Laufer has collaborated with are David Mairs, Peter Leonard, Robert Debbaut, George Solti, Dennis Simons, Henry Mancini, John Shenaut, Joseph Schwantner, Aaron Copland, Soulima Stravinsky, Carlisle Floyd, and Arthur Gottschalk.

Laufer has performed chamber music with members of the North Carolina Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Borromeo Quartet, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the New World Symphony.

During 2000-2001, Laufer lived in Madrid, Spain where he was concertizing and doing research under the auspices of a Fulbright research grant. Internationally recognized as a leading interpreter of Spanish piano music, Laufer was examining manuscripts of Spanish romantic composer, Isaac Albéniz. Laufer’s edition of La Vega by Isaac Albéniz is published by G. Henle Verlag in Munich and available in over fifty countries. Currently Laufer is working on a new book, "The Pianist's Guide to the Repertoire of Spain" and an upcoming edition of Isaac Albéniz’s Impromptus for piano, based on his 1903 cylinder recordings.

Upcoming engagements include performances in North Carolina, Chicago, New York, California, Spain, Great Britain, The Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. Dr. Laufer lives in North Carolina and teaches piano at Peace College, where he holds the Anne Weatherspoon Phoenix Professorship of Fine Arts. His recording of Latin duo music for flute and piano with renown flutist Merrie Siegel is to be released on the Albany Records label during 2008.

 

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