Author: Alfredo Casuso

media contact: David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

Acclaimed Spanish Pianist Isabel Dobarro
Releases First Solo Album: Kaleidoscope

Album is Dedicated to the Great Women Composers of our Time

Artist and Activist has performed in the United States (Carnegie Hall), Spain, Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, Argentina, Italy, and Portugal

14 November 2024 – New York: Isabel Dobarro (www.isabeldobarro.com), one of the most internationally promising Spanish pianists of her generation, has released her first solo album, Kaleidoscope (Naxos-Grand Piano). The album became available last month. The 32-year-old Galician pianist and activist has curated a unique repertoire made up entirely of works by the great women composers of our time in a sonic journey that spans artists from the United States, Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Kaleidoscope celebrates unity in diversity through the universal language of music, with works by female composers from all over the world, creating a true sound kaleidoscope of diverse aesthetics and perspectives. The album is available in stores worldwide and online at:

• Amazon: 
  https://www.amazon.es/Kaleidoscope-Contemporary-Female-Composers Around/dp/B0D9YVP475/ref=sr_1_1_mod_primary_new?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.s2oQeuFJMB5ba94NXdXe071Nsop7hLLTwxkOT0NZimWUHWFjZ-NxcPZtzOcpKYdC.rAaNKhLCTMEXCnxigDFK4BfOfcPsd2Zc7PsoZfOEPz8&dib_tag=se&keywords=kaleidoscope+isabel+dobarro&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1731599373&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sr=8-1
• Amazon Music: 
  https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0D9P527RC
• Spotify: 
  https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/artist/6t4TxrDnNiVZRKs7Kvazja
• AppleMusic https://music.apple.com/es/search?term=isabel%20dobarro%20kaleidoscope
  

(NOTE TO MEDIA: Links below to liner notes and foreword for Kaleidoscope)

• Foreword to Kaleidoscope by Patricia Kleinman https://www.davidperry.com/newsroom/foreword-to-kaleidoscope-by-patricia-kleinman.html
• Liner Notes for Kaleidoscope by Manuel Garcia-Orozco https://www.davidperry.com/newsroom/liner-notes-for-kaleidoscope-by-manuel-garcia-orozco.html

“With Kaleidoscope I want to celebrate unity in diversity through composers from every continent, different cultures, generations, and musical traditions brought together by music,” says Dobarro. “Kaleidoscopeexplores the deepest spectrums of my musical journey, a journey whose paths have been deeply influenced by my discovery of the works of women composers. For different reasons, I deeply admire each of the composers selected to grace this album, and it was both a thrill and a delight to perform their works. Each composition has profoundly affected me as a player, a person, and as a woman.”

In Kaleidcoscope, Dobarro performs works by internationally acclaimed artists, including Gabriela Ortiz, resident composer at New York’s Carnegie Hall; Tania León, Pulitzer Prize winner and Carnegie Hall’s composer-in-residence; Julia Wolfe, Pulitzer Prize winner; Caroline Shaw, Grammy and Pulitzer winner; and Yoko Kanno, a renowned composer of jazz, anime, and video game music in Japan. The works are inspired by a wide range of sources: “Hana Wa Saku” is a national anthem in Japan created in honor of earthquake victims, “Tumbao” has clear Cuban roots, and “Alalá das Paisaxe Verticais” draws from Galician folklore.

“This album is a kaleidoscope of contemporary music styles and various prisms through which to understand current creation,”  Dobarro continues. “Kaleidoscope highlights the importance of women composers, who have been marginalized in history and in today’s programs.”

One of the leading classical pianists of her generation, Dobarro has been awarded numerous prizes at international competitions quickly establishing her reputation as an artist who looks for improving society through her craft. Her performances of the Spanish repertoire (both historic and contemporary) have been highly praised by critics and audiences.She has performed in the United States, Spain, Germany, France, Russia, Belgium, Argentina, Italy, and Portugal including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Rachmaninoff Hall at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Casina Pio IV in Vatican City, Balassi Center in Brussels, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid.

Dobarro is especially noted for her work in recovering compositions by women, premiering in Spain the quartets of Louise Héritte Viardot and the Piano Concerto in G Major by Marianna Martínez. She undertakes multiple projects that aim to link the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the arts. Recently named a ‘Woman to Watch in Culture’ by The Association Mujeres a Seguir.  She has won the Executivas de Galicia Award, was a finalist in the Future Women in Classical Music in London, and holds a doctorate from New York University. Dobarro studied at Harvard University, IE University, Manhattan School of Music, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. Dobarro is a professor at the Katarina Gurska Higher Center, President of the European Music Center in Spain, and a visiting professor at the London Performing Academy of Music (UK). She performs regularly with National Music Award winner and RTVE Orchestra concertmaster Miguel Borrego, guitarist José María Gallardo del Rey, and also with her husband, flautist Rubén Torres Melero. 

Dobarro holds a doctorate from New York University, where she began teaching at age 19 as an Adjunct Instructor. Her studies include a Professional Studies Degree from Manhattan School of Music, a Master’s from NYU, and a degree from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. She also holds a Law degree from UNED, has studied law at NYU SPS, sustainability at SDG Academy, International Relations at Harvard University, and business at Harvard Business School HBX. She completed a leadership course at Cambridge University and a dual master’s in law and bilingual legal advisory at IE Law School. Dobarro divides her time between Madrid and New York City.

Liner Notes for Kaleidoscope by Manuel Garcia-Orozco

Classical music is undergoing seismic shifts and embracing diversity in all its forms by expanding its repertoires, approaches, and canonic constructions. As a classical piano album, Isabel Dobarro’s transportative Kaleidoscope proposes a multicultural music interchange among women composers from distant continents, cultures, and traditions. As performed by Dobarro, each artist’s repertoire reflects a wealth of piano works that should inspire pianists and audiences alike while challenging and reverting the historical neglect of women in the classical genre. 

From the Greek kalos (beautiful), eidos (form), and scopio (to observe), Kaleidoscope refracts metaphors for possibility as its correlate instrument of leisure and mirrors refracts light to create colorful, spectacular shapes of inspiring symmetry. Similarly, this piano album expressively refracts musical soundscapes via wide-ranging cultural influences. Each kaleidoscopic gesture of Dobarro’s virtuosic touch reveals new hues and patterns in each of the contributing composers’ works.

Fed by Dobarro’s advocacy for gender equity and sustainability, her oxygenating musical approach to each piece unveils a unique synthesis connected to the profound and sensitive ontological views, emotions, and compositional styles of global women. The contributed repertoire compels as a testament to the composers’ brilliance in expanding the piano’s musical boundaries, leaving a distinctive, lasting imprint on the classical genre. 

Grammy-nominee Dobrinka Tabakova (Bulgaria) contributes “Nocturne” in her characteristic evocative compositional style once lauded as “exciting and deeply moving” by the Washington Times. Composed in 2008, Tabakova’s contemplative piece explores textural colors through a repetitive motif, with the left hand introducing a poignant melody during the middle section that intensely contrasts with the action of the right hand. Programmed at major venues across Europe and the United States, the Bulgarian’s oeuvre has delighted audiences at the San Francisco Ballet, BBC Proms, Davos Summer Festival, the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, and more.

“Estudio 3” by virtuoso composer Gabriela Ortiz (Mexico) strikes a bold contrast to Tabakova’s left-right delicacy. Drawing on Ligeti, Ortiz presents an impassioned continuum demanding of a tour-de-force performance from pianist Dobarro. The score calls for a “Latin feel” within very technically challenging textures, which Dobarro masterfully reaches, marking her virtuosic apogee. Ortiz is recognized as one of today’s most notable composers, having been recently appointed Carnegie Hall Debs Composer’s Chair for 2024–2025. Her reputable works, performed by major orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, affirm Ortiz’s prominence in the contemporary music scene.

Nkeiru Okoye’s (USA) African Sketches weaves the composer’s Nigerian roots into each element of the suite. Its second movement, “Dusk,” honors Okoye’s first musical mentor through a meditative sonority of exceptional ambiance that explodes the piano’s resonance throughout its registers. Dobarro’s delicate performance here affirms the movement independently of the suite while extending the tradition of African piano music thriving most prominently in Nigeria and Ghana. As a preeminent artist of African descent, Okoye is the first recipient of the International Florence Price Society Award for Composition and a distinguished Guggenheim Fellow.

“Improvisation” by Suad Bushnaq (Jordan) roots in the Arab system of melodic modes known as “maqam.” Arpeggios ebb and flow between both hands, contrasting colors and exploring registers amid a nuanced Middle Eastern atmosphere. To Bushnaq’s score offering a performer interpretive freedom in dynamics and tempo, Dobarro coaxes delicate well-articulated fingerings to underscore the piece’s improvisational essence. Bushnaq stands as a seminal composer of classical and film music, with the BBC praising her compositions as “reflective and touching”—a testament to her ability to evoke deep emotions through nuanced musical narratives.

Yoko Kanno (Japan) composed “Hana Wa Saku” (Flowers Will Bloom) after the horrifying tsunami and earthquake that struck Japan in 2011. Since its creation, this work has symbolized resilience and hope amidst catastrophe. The composer, widely regarded for her masterful versatility and contributions to film and videogame music, creates a sectional work where two contrasting themes, one lyrical and one hymnal, coexist to foster hope, and Dobarro’s treatment does just that.

Pulitzer winner and Kennedy Honors recipient Tania León (Cuba) exhibits a masterful blend of her Latin heritage and contemporary language with “Tumbao,” a composition title also representing the basic rhythmic motif in Afro-Cuban popular music, as harnessed by Dobarro prominently on the left hand withlively bursts in contrast, sharpness, and brilliance. León’s composition, activism, and pedagogy have established her as another leading figure in the contemporary musical landscape as well as a composer-in-residence for prestigious orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. León was appointed Carnegie Hall Debs Composer’s Chair for the 2023–2024 season.   

“Blue Ocean” by prominent pedagogue and composer Carolyn Morris (Australia) pertains to the educational volume Australian Women Composers’ Piano Anthology. Vol. III published by Wirripang and conjures Morris’ childhood along her home country’s Great Ocean Road. Morris crafts a long-sustained melody over a constant flow of arpeggios that in Dobarro’s hands presents a perpetual process of transformation, perhaps epitomizing the highs and lows of the composer growing up beside the rhythmic dance of ocean waves.

Karen Tanaka (Japan) andher “Water Dance III” gracefully evoke water amid her compositional creativity, which unfolds in classic ABA structure. Its first and third sections, characterized by rapid arpeggios imbuing the piece with an ethereal lightness that mirrors the multifaceted hues and fluidity of water, while its middle section contrasts that lightness with the piano’s lower register, casting a darker, more dramatic tone reminiscent of the ocean’s hidden depths, which Dobarro tastefully articulates. Tanaka’s extensive musical versatility has been performed by venerable orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, and the NHK Symphony, among others. 

“Buenos Aires, Despierta y Sueña” resonates as a heartfelt tribute to the Argentinian city by the prominent late composer Claudia Montero (Argentina), the winner of four Latin Grammy Awards who positioned herself as a seminal figure in Latin America. The piece conjures a nostalgic melody that elegantly hovers above an arpeggiated accompaniment. This minimalistic yet emotive structure allows Dobarro a vast breadth of romantic freedom to reinterpret its evocative musical cosmos, keeping the piece poignant and potent while honoring Montero’s enduring legacy.

Renowned for her Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Genius Grant, Julia Wolfe (USA) presents a fascinating compositional perspective with “Earring.” As Wolfe reflects, “Earring, like much of my music, appears deceptively simple at first glance. However, once the fingers engage, the complexities unfold.” The primary challenge here for a pianist, which Dobarro brilliantly meets then transcends, lies in the hands’ distinct independence: the right hand must persistently articulate a samba-like rhythm at the piano’s zenith while the left drifts in a dream-like state. Wolfe is esteemed as one of the most influential composers of our era, and her imprint has been felt in music scenes across continents.

“Gustave Le Gray,” composed by Grammy and Pulitzer Prize recipient Caroline Shaw (USA), captivates as a deep dive into intriguing sonic techniques. Deploying fragmentation and repetition, the piece pays homage to photographer Gustave Le Gray and his contemporary, the composer Fréderic Chopin. Shaw meticulously assembles each component of a musical puzzle to form Chopin’s Mazurka op.17 no.4, expressed at the composition’s center. Hereafter, the work undergoes a deconstruction into contrasting tonal landscapes that traverse the spectrum of human sentiment. Considered one of the most influential composers of her era, Shaw shines in both the classical domain and as a rap and pop-music producer.

Kaleidoscope concludes with “Alalá das Paisaxes Verticais” (Alalá of Vertical Landscapes) by composer Carme Rodríguez (Spain). Dedicated to Isabel Dobarro herself, this programmatic piece epitomizes the coast of Galicia, birthplace of both original composer and first performer. Rooted in the traditional Alalá, a Galician melismatic solo chant, the piece weaves a rich tapestry of dynamic, formal, and textural contrasts derived from Galician traditional music. The piece’s dedicatee brings this evocative musical homage to life as only she could.

Manuel Garcia-Orozco

Ph.D. in Music

Columbia University

Foreword to Kaleidoscope by Patricia Kleinman

Foreword

The engagement of new audiences, encompassing a spectrum of generations and social backgrounds, remains an ongoing endeavor for classical music in general and contemporary music in particular. Kaleidoscope rises to the challenge by extending an invitation to prospective audiences who may feel excluded by a musical program that too narrowly represents gender, geography, culture, and history. This inclusivity not only diversifies the musical landscape, but also contributes to the cultivation and dissemination of professional role models and icons for new generations of women composers, especially (although not only) from countries that have traditionally been left out of the classical Western canon.

The musical work of female composers must be spread through recordings, concerts, and the publication of scores to guarantee their social accessibility and an awareness of this wealth of inspiration for the future. Filling this gap is a fundamental task today. May the emerging generations of women composers be able to identify with the protagonists of this album and their creative achievements. Let them see how very possible it is to be a woman, a composer, and to have your work recorded on a leading record label as played by such an outstanding pianist with a confirmed international career as Isabel Dobarro. Let these achievements inspire them to dare to pursue their musical career.

Kaleidoscope is a significant stride toward the normalization of the programming of music composed by women and the integration of contemporary non-European music into the 21st-century musical lexicon. Such initiatives will invigorate the musical composition profession for new generations of women composers from regions too often marginalized from the classical Western canon. Broadening our horizons is a fundamental step toward both gender equity and the enrichment of contemporary music. Let us celebrate this step forward while reaffirming our commitment to the work that still lies ahead.

Patricia Kleinman

Isabel Dobarro Discusses her new album Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscopeexplores the deepest spectrums of my musical journey, a journey whose paths have been deeply influenced by my discovery of the works of women composers. Going on an octet of years now, my piano-performance career has sought to pique attention toward these marvelous women’s relevant contributions. I want to promote their diverse musical oeuvres worldwide, and the present recording serves as genesis for that. For different reasons, I deeply admire each of the composers selected to grace this album, and it was both a thrill and a delight to perform their works. Each composition has profoundly affected me as a player, a person, and as a woman.

Dobrinka Tabakova’s “Nocturne” explores an intimist atmosphere whose subtle colors and frail feelings never fail to touch one’s soul, while Tania León’s explosive “Tumbao” intersperses passionate Latin rhythms amid contemporary musical language, creating a piece full of life, hope and light. These two pieces perfectly set the listener up for Gabriela Ortiz’s fiery tour de force, “Estudio No.3,” a virtuosic and imaginative treat for both pianist and listener.

Besides being an exploration, Kaleidoscopeis also a dialogue, one where diverse musical languages merge, synthesize, and flourish together. 

For example, throughout Julia Wolfe’s “Earring,” two rhythms and two worlds, one rhythmic and one melodious, first move in different directions before gracefully fusing at the end. Yoko Kanno’s work, “Hana Wa Saku,” dedicated to the victims of Japan’s March 2011 earthquake, one of the country’s deadliest, counterpoints sorrow with hope, sadness with light, ultimately becoming a marvelous anthem for resilience. 

“Water Dance” by Karan Tanaka explores reflections of water and its variations as an eternal fount of inspiration. Similarly inspired by water, Carolyn Morris’s soulful “Blue Ocean” delivers the listener to the composer’s earliest memories growing up by the sea along Australia’s Great Ocean Road. Nkeiru Okoye’s “Dusk,” from her African Sketches, takes the listener on another journey not only into the fascinating colors of African music but also into oneself. Melancholic and intimate, Okoye’s piece closely connects to my inner emotions.

With its sense of nostalgia, “Buenos Aires, Despierta y Sueña” by Claudia Montero evocatively transports the listener into the very streets of that South American city, while Caroline Shaw’s “Gustave Le Gray” offers not only a center piece of the contemporary classical repertoire but a fascination that explores sound, form, transformation and color. Global musical reach is also within the grasp of Suad Bushnaq’s “Improvisation,” which invites the composer’s Arabic musical roots into Romantic piano language, creating a rich musical tapestry.

Kaleidoscope concludes very close to my heart as well, for I was honored to be the dedicatee of Carme Rodríguez’s “Alalá das Paisaxes Verticais,” a thrillingly evocative musical portrait of my home region of Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition and contemporaneity meet as compellingly as they do amid the tracks of this album.