As Kemal Gekic took center stage in the Aventura Arts and Cultural Center on March 24, 2024,  there was no doubt on anyone’s’ mind that we were in front of one of the most extraordinary  pianists in the world today. A pianist capable of casting a spell upon the audience and taking  

them on a journey of uncompromising and unceasing search for expressive essence, for the  divine spark hidden in the score. Every gesture and energy were the result of living deeply with  the structural material of these works for decades. 

The demanding program of four great Sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Prokofieff  hypnotized the audience who burst into applause with ovations after each sonata. This was an  intense and powerful journey with a display of mastery, character, and magic seldom seen in a  live performance.  

The Mozart Sonata in A -major KV 331 was so imaginative and narrative that it sounded like an  opera. We could not only hear the different characters, but we could visualize the plot. 

Beethoven’s Appassionata one of the most spectacular works followed the program. This  sonata evokes some interesting comparisons, the German-born, American musicologist Hugo  Leichtentritt compared it to Dante's Inferno and the German-born musicologist Arnold Schering  likened it to Shakespeare's Macbeth. The comparison is accurate since Shakespeare and  Beethoven shared the power of utterance, wisdom and wit, prodigal invention and reinvention,  and the incomparable depth and breadth of creative journey: the sense of timelessness that  comes from an eternal human essence shining through an idiom and language itself. The  transcendence of self in art.” And this is the vision that Kemal Gekic portrays when he  performs. 

Continuing this intriguing journey Kemal Gekic shared his vision of Chopin’s 3rd Sonata which  is among his greatest works. His interpretation was compelling, and it evoked the monumental  drama of the outer movements, the nerve-ridden scherzo, and a Largo that was insistent. A  breathtaking and spontaneous performance of this masterpiece.  

The recital concluded with a towering performance of Profofieff’s War Sonata No.7, written at  the end of 1940, after his close friend and professional associate the director Vsevolod  Meyerhold was arrested by the NKVD just before he was due to rehearse Prokofiev's new opera 

“Semyon Kotko” and shot on 2 February 1940. Prokofieff’s War Sonatas contain some of the  most dissonant music for the piano and they were composed in one of the darkest periods of  history, the 2nd world war. Kemal Gekic’s tour de force performance portrayed the drama, the  tragedy, and the fear of war, in this masterpiece, bringing to life the eerie and painful message  Prokofieff wanted to convey, about the atrocities of war. 

Kemal’s artistry is unparalleled and his message extremely important, for he embodies all  important forms of art. He is a visionary, a philosopher, a storyteller, a magician, a painter, an  actor, and a singer and needs to be heard all over the world. We are committed to bringing  him every year. He is a guiding light, a revolutionary who truly understands the importance of  music and is without a doubt an artist that embodies the mission of the Miami International  Piano Festival. As he carries the torch into the future inspiring and guiding the next generation  of emerging pianists, his legacy will offer an important point of reference for future artists.