Internationally acclaimed Duo Gastesi-Bezerra has delighted audiences for over a decade with exciting programs of traditional and contemporary music for piano ensemble. Staunch supporters of new music, pianists Estibaliz Gastesi and Márcio Bezerra have commissioned more than twenty works by renowned composers such as Terry Winter Owens, Justin Rubin, Vladimir Tošic, Rodolfo Coelho de Souza, and Ricardo Tacuchian, as well as the new voices of Tim Thompson, Seth Boustead, Carme Fernández-Vidal, and Marlene Woodward-Cooper.
Reflecting the duo’s commitment to perform new music “beyond the world premiere,” new works have been subsequently performed in different countries of the Americas and Europe for a wide array of audiences. In recognition of this mission, the duo has been recently awarded the coveted Encore Grant by the American Composers Forum.
Performances of the duo have been broadcast on National Public Radio station WXEL (Palm Beach), Radio Ona Mallorca (Spain), and Radio Beograd (Serbia). Recent engagements include
an all-Mozart recital sponsored by the Palm Beach Symphony, a recital of French impressionist works at the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach (FL), and an appearance at the University of Minnesota Duluth's 7th New Music Festival, where the duo premiered thirteen new works.
This upcoming season will take them to Las Vegas (NV), Washington (D.C.), Miami and Gainesville (FL), Baton Rouge (LA), and a tour of Serbia in December and of Brazil in June. Most recently, Duo Gastesi-Bezerra became the official chamber-ensemble-in-residence of Palm Beach Atlantic University.
A native of the Basque Country, pianist Estibaliz Gastesi has performed throughout Europe and the United States.
Dr. Gastesi is also an active ethnomusicologist, having published articles and reviews in respected journals in the field. Her latest research was published by the University of Nevada Press.
Brazilian pianist Márcio Bezerra has been performing often at several music halls of Brazil and the United States. He has participated in several editions of the Festival Música Nova de Santos to rave reviews.
A distinguished Fulbright and CDMC scholar, his doctoral dissertation was published by the prestigious Alain Van Kerckhoven Éditeur (Belgium).
