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.

Conozca a Isabel Dobarro, una de las pianistas españolas con mayor proyección internacional

“Isabel Dobarro aúna una técnica impecable con un gran sentido interpretativo”
Tomás Marco (Scherzo, 2022)

La Dra. Isabel Dobarro está considerada una de las pianistas españolas con más proyección internacional. “Mujer a Seguir en la Cultura del año 2021” Profesora del Centro Superior Katarina Gurska, Presidenta del Centro Europeo de Música España e invitada como visiting Professor en la London Performing Academy of Music en Londres (UK), Isabel ha desarrollado su carrera en los Estados Unidos, España, Alemania, Rusia, Bélgica, Francia, Argentina, Italia y Portugal. Su próximo debut solista discográfico tendrá lugar con el prestigioso sello Naxos.

Ha actuado en Carnegie Hall, el DiMenna Center, Steinway Hall, Tenri Cultural Institute, Septodont Audiorium, Carson Auditorium, Provincetown Playhouse, Frederick Loewe Theater, Blackbox Theater, Borden Auditorium y Greenfield Hall entre otros en EEUU, Iberoamerikanische Institut de Berlín y Casa Mendelssohn de Leipzig, Conservatorio Tchaikovsky de Moscú, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Casina Pio IV en la Ciudad del Vaticano, Monastero delle Trentaré en Nápoles, Sala Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli en Bolzano, Balassi Center en Bruselas, Villa Viardot en Bougival (París), Auditorio Nacional, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Palau de la Música Catalana, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Teatros del Canal, Reales Alcázares en Sevilla, Fundación Juan March, Teatro Jovellanos, Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, Auditorium de Galicia, Ateneo de Madrid, Escuela Superior de Canto, Consello de la Cultura de Galicia, Teatro Rosalía, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, Pazo da Cultura, International Institute y Teatro Jofre, entre otros, en España.

Isabel ha recibido numerosos premios en competiciones internacionales tales como el segundo premio en el American Protegé InternationalPiano Competition, tercer premio en el Grand Prize International Virtuoso Competition y el primer premio en los Concursos Internacionales de Cidade do Fundao en Portugal y Ciutat de Berga y galardones por su carrera incluyendo el Young Peacemaker Award en el Foro de Premios Nobel de la Paz, el Premio Executivas de Galicia 2022 y el Alfiler de Oro 2022. Fue además finalista en el Future Women in Classical Music Award en Londres.

Su labor ha sido reconocida por medios nacionales e internacionales tales como eldiario El Mundo (en el que apareció en portada), El País, ABC, La Vanguardia, Vogue, Telva (considerada una de las 10 españolas del siglo XXI), Televisión Española, Telecinco, Antena 3, Opera News (USA) siendo su CD selección de la crítica, Pianist Magazine (UK) donde eligieron sus grabaciones para conmemorar a Teresa Carreño, Fanfare Magazine (USA), Westdeutscher Rundfunk (Alemania), La Nación (Argentina), Radio Nacional, La Ser, Cope, Onda Cero, El Español, Scherzo, Platea, Melómano, Doce Notas, etc.

Por su trabajo en la recuperaciónde obras de compositoras, Isabel ha sido invitada a hablar en la Women Now Conference junto a su Majestad la Reina Letizia y Kathleen Kennedy. Asimismo, en el año 2016, junto a la mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna, Isabel Dobarro creó el Proyecto Women in Music, iniciativa que promueve la música compuesta por mujeres. En esta difusión de la música de compositoras destaca su actuación en el Palau de la Música Catalana como solista, interpretando el Concierto para Piano y Orquesta de Clara Schumann op.7 y Frágil de Clara Gil junto a la orquesta OSSB, dirigida por Claudia Dubé.

Meet Isabel Dobarro, one of Spain’s most internationally promising pianists

“Isabel Dobarro combines impeccable technique with a great interpretative sense.”  
– Tomás Marco (Scherzo, 2022)

Dr. Isabel Dobarro is considered one of Spain’s most internationally promising pianists. Named “Woman to Follow in Culture 2021,” she 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). Isabel has developed her career in the United States, Spain, Germany, Russia, Belgium, France, Argentina, Italy, and Portugal. Her upcoming solo recording debut will be with the prestigious Naxos label.

She has performed at Carnegie Hall, the DiMenna Center, Steinway Hall, Tenri Cultural Institute, Septodont Auditorium, Carson Auditorium, Provincetown Playhouse, Frederick Loewe Theater, Blackbox Theater, Borden Auditorium, and Greenfield Hall, among others, in the U.S.; the Ibero-Amerikanische Institut in Berlin; Mendelssohn House in Leipzig; Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow; Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; Casina Pio IV in Vatican City; Monastero delle Trentaré in Naples; Sala Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli in Bolzano; Balassi Center in Brussels; Villa Viardot in Bougival (Paris); and various notable venues in Spain, including the National Auditorium, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Palau de la Música Catalana, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Teatros del Canal, Reales Alcázares in Seville, Fundación Juan March, Teatro Jovellanos, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, and others.

Isabel has won numerous awards in international competitions, such as second place in the American Protegé International Piano Competition, third place in the Grand Prize International Virtuoso Competition, and first prizes in the Cidade do Fundão International Competition in Portugal and Ciutat de Berga. She has also received career accolades, including the Young Peacemaker Award at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, the Executivas de Galicia Award 2022, and the Golden Pin Award 2022. She was a finalist for the Future Women in Classical Music Award in London.

Her work has been recognized by national and international media, including *El Mundo* (where she appeared on the cover), *El País*, *ABC*, *La Vanguardia*, *Vogue*, *Telva* (named one of the top 10 Spaniards of the 21st century), Spanish television stations (TVE, Telecinco, Antena 3), *Opera News* (USA), *Pianist Magazine* (UK), *Fanfare Magazine* (USA), and various European and Latin American publications.

For her work in recovering compositions by women, Isabel was invited to speak at the Women Now Conference alongside Queen Letizia of Spain and Kathleen Kennedy. In 2016, she founded the Women in Music Project with mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna, promoting music composed by women. A highlight of this work was her performance at Palau de la Música Catalana, where she played Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto op.7 and Clara Gil’s *Frágil*, accompanied by the OSSB orchestra under Claudia Dubé’s direction.

She premiered Louise Héritte-Viardot’s quartets in Spain and Marianna Martínez’s Piano Concerto in G Major, performing with the Málaga Camerata and Italy’s Orchestra San Giovanni.

Isabel has collaborated with the New York Philharmonic through their Very Young Composers Program. Additionally, she has played with the OSSB of Barcelona, OSCAN, Cruz Diez Orchestra, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Braga Philharmonic Orchestra, OST, Málaga Camerata, and others, under conductors such as Michael Thomas, Manuel Jurado, Claudia Dubé, Diego Masson, Paula Sumillera, Filipe Cunha, Santiago Otero, Aona Green, and Beatriz Gutiérrez.

She has given masterclasses at institutions like New York University, the International Opera Festival in Morelia, and Veracruz’s Pianistic Improvement Festival. She has lectured at numerous renowned venues, including the Vatican’s Casina Pio IV (where she was received by Pope Francis), the UN General Assembly, the European Parliament, Harvard University, Columbia University, the King Juan Carlos I Center, and many more.

Her publications include an article on Joaquín Rodrigo’s reception in the United States for Harvard University-Observatorio Cervantes and another on Sustainable Development Goals and Music for IIASA in Vienna. She is preparing a book on Spanish women composers, scheduled for release next year.

She organized a tribute to the composer Pauline Viardot for her bicentennial, which included events at Harvard University, New York University, Teatro Jovellanos, Alcázar de Sevilla, Institut Français, and others, along with a CD, scholarly articles, and global conferences. Her album “The Unknown Pauline Viardot: Chamber Songs and Duets” has been acclaimed by critics, including *Opera News*, *Fanfare Magazine*, and *Operawire*, and won Spain’s Golden Melomano Award.

In 2016, she organized the Granados Festival at NYU, a series of conferences and concerts dedicated to Enrique Granados. Three years later, she organized the Rodrigo Festival: The Guitar and Beyond, involving Harvard University and New York University.

A champion of contemporary music, Isabel has premiered works by numerous composers, including Eduardo Soutullo, Juan Manuel Ruiz, Miguel Bustamante, and others. Her recording of Diana Pérez Custodio’s *Ostinato Rap 02* with mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna has been included in the London Music Nights Series CD.

She performs regularly with National Music Award winner and RTVE Orchestra concertmaster Miguel Borrego, guitarist José María Gallardo del Rey, and flautist Rubén Torres Melero.

Isabel 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.