MARIA DEL CARMEN GIL

María del Carmen Gil has been acclaimed by critics as a pianist with “a highly uncommon musical intelligence, a brilliant and dazzling technique, a beautiful sound, and a provocative interpretative style”…

As a concert pianist, she has performed extensively in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Central America and the United States, appearing in solo recitals, as a soloist in orchestra performances, duo piano ensemble, chamber music and accompanying, as well as teaching master classes. She has worked under the baton of renowned conductors, premiered piano works of Puerto Rican composers, shared the stage with many international artists and has presided and served in jury panels of several international piano competitions. Founder of the Gil and Figueroa piano duo ensemble which holds the distinction of Artist Ensemble in Residence at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music (PRCM). The Gil and Figueroa Duo is founder of the Puerto Rico Multipiano Fest, an annual event which gathers pianists of all levels to perform together with the Duo in a unique monster piano concert with 32 Steinway pianos on stage and almost 100 pianists.

Maria del Carmen Gil began her piano studies in Cuba where she was born and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Piano Performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Her principal teachers at the professional level have been: Ellen Mack, Leon Fleisher and Adele Marcus.

Her music career has been multifaceted combining a performance with important leadership roles and a proliferous teaching career. She held the office of Chancellor of the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music for fifteen years, the longest tenure in the institutional history, totally transforming the institution in every area bringing it into the 21st century. Currently, she is Piano Department Chair and full Professor at the Piano faculty at the PRCM. Gil is the president and founder of the Fundación Musica y País, an NGO dedicated to music and social transformation programs and initiatives in Puerto Rico. International leadership roles and initiatives include founding and presiding the Latin American Association of Conservatories and Music Schools, the vice presidency of the International Music Council and the presidency of the Council of Music of the Three Americas, among others.

For her achievements and leadership in the music field and in music education, she has been distinguished in Puerto Rico as Woman of the Year; honored several times in the Women in Leadership