BIOGRAPHY

They have performed in several prestigious venues, such as the Gardens of Villa Rufolo in Ravello, Italy, at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C., at The Symphony Hall, in Shanghai, at Villa Musica, in Germany, at the Shenzhen Concert Hall, at Carnegie Hall, in New York, Elbfilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany, in addition to numerous recitals in the USA, Israel, South America, Asia, and Europe. The New York Concert Review has described their playing as “showing marvelous rubato and tremendously clean playing, with a lovely sense of tone”.

Individually, they have performed with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina, Santo André Symphony, São Bernardo Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartt Symphony Orchestra, Piracicaba Symphony Orchestra, Rio Claro Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hotchkiss Philharmonic, Denver Philharmonic, Saalfeld Symphony, and the Paulista Symphony Orchestra. As chamber players their performances include appearances with the Emerson String Quartet, The Guarneri Quartet, the Fine Arts Quartet, The Amerigo Trio, the São Paulo String Quartet, and cellist Robert deMaine, among others. Mrs. Witkowski’s Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall solo recital debut was hailed as “the most genuinely fascinating recital debut in many a moon,” (New York Concert Review). Mr. Witkowski’s playing has been described as having “many passages of bravura, sensitivity, and pearly agility” (The Hartford Courant).

Concomitantly to their performing careers, they enjoy a busy academic life, both teaching at the Hotchkiss School, where Mr. Witkowski is the Head of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and Director of the music program. Mr. Witkowski holds a cum laude BM and MM from the Hartt School of Music. Mrs. Witkowski received her Masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Hartt School of Music. Mr. and Mrs. Witkowski have appeared as guest artists and professors in numerous music festivals, including the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, the Enescu Festival in Romania, the Ljubljana Festival in Slovenia, the Mendelssohn Festival in Germany, the Granada Piano Festival in Spain, the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and Hotchkiss Summer Portals in the USA, and the São João del Rey, Belém, Londrina, and Ourinhos Music Festivals in Brazil. They are currently co-directors of the Hotchkiss in Madrid Music Program in Spain and the Hotchkiss Piano Summer Portals in the USA.

Mr. and Mrs. Witkowski frequently serve as judges and guest artists of several international piano competitions such as the Spanish Composers Competition in Madrid, the Cidade de Ferrol Competition in Galicia, and the MozArte Competition in Aachen, Germany. Their students have also received various prizes in national and international piano competitions.

One of the duo’s exciting projects included performances of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with the Bowen McCauley dance company, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the masterpiece. According to the Washington Post, “Fabio and Gisele Witkowski played the four-hand piano arrangement as if they possessed the very paws of Fate.”

Their latest CD recording for Naxos label with the Fine Arts Quartet, entitled “Early Chamber Music Treasures of George Enescu”, produced by multiple GRAMMY award-winner Steven Epstein, is scheduled to be released in August 2023, has received great acclaim by the specialized press.