By James Carder

“Albert Cano Smit is a master of sound, imagery and dazzling technical skills.”
(Giselle Brodsky, Miami International Music Festival)

Albert Cano Smit – an amazing young virtuoso pianist – will delight audiences at the 40th annual Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival at The Ebenezer Theater in Easton, Maryland, on June 6, 7, and 8. The 29-year-old Cano Smit has performed extensively in the United States and abroad, and his playing has been widely praised for its brilliant technique and its probing, thoughtful musicality. He took first prize at the 2019 Young Concert International Auditions (New York City), where he also received six special prizes, including the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize; the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Concert Prize for support of his Kennedy Center debut; the Friends of Music Concert Prize, and the Sunday Musicale Prize. He also received first prize in 2017 at the prestigious Walter W. Naumburg Piano Competition (New York City), which awarded him a Carnegie Hall debut concert. There he gave the world premiere of Stephen Hough’s Partita for Piano.

Cano Smit was born in Geneva, the son of a Dutch mother and Spanish father. He received a Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School, where he also completed an Artist Diploma (an advanced program for highly-skilled musicians in the pre-professional stages of their careers). At Juilliard, he studied with pianist Robert McDonald, who also will perform at this year’s Chamber Music Festival (June 6 and 7), and received the prestigious Arthur Rubinstein Piano Prize in 2020. He also is an alumnus of the Verbier Festival Academy and the Ravinia Steans Institute.

Although Cano Smit has established a brilliant international reputation performing the classical repertoire as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral guest artist, he also is a staunch advocate for new music and has premiered a number of solo works written for him by composers such as Stephen Hough, Miquel Oliu, and Katherine Balch. He has performed with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, cellist Gary Hoffman, and violinist Pinchas Zukerman and collaborated with the Ébène, Casals, and Verona string quartets, among others. In 2024, he made his debut solo recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Art of the Fugue on the Little Tribecca label. This season, he is a featured soloist with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, continues his chamber music collaborations with lutist Anthony Trionfo and violinists Paul Huang and William Hagen (with whom he recorded the CD “Danse Russe”), and embarks on a Spanish recital tour that includes performances in Barcelona and Madrid.

The 40th annual Chesapeake Music Chamber Music Festival will offer concert goers the exceptional opportunity to enjoy Albert Cano Smit’s captivating performance style and his nuanced musicality. He will perform Amy Beach’s Dreaming for Violoncello & Piano with Festival favorite, cellist Sterling Elliott (June 6), two charming solo concert pieces by Cécile Chaminade, Automne and Autrefois (June 7), and Felix Mendelssohn’s beautiful Piano Trio No. 1 with Todd Phillips and Sterling Elliott (June 8).