Pianist. Composer. Writer. Teacher.
American pianist Carlos Gardels has performed and taught throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and has established a career that fuses elements of performance, composition, teaching, and educational/arts outreach.
A Los Angeles native, Mr. Gardels made his professional debut at age fifteen as a soloist in the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto with the Pasadena Youth Orchestra in the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, and made his debut appearance in Carnegie Recital Hall in 2016. He has been awarded prizes from the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the American Protege Competition, and the National Society of Arts and Letters.
He has been invited to perform solo recitals in Paris at the American Church's Atelier Concert Series, in London at St. Martin-in-the Field's "Pianists Of the World" concert series, and has studied and performed at the Alion Baltic Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, and the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City. In the Southern California area he has soloed with the Beach Cities Symphony, Young Artist's Concert Orchestra, Gold Coast Chamber Orchestra, and performed recitals at the Richard Nixon Library, USC's Dornsife Brain and Creativity Institute, Pasadena Presbyterian Church's Music at Noon series, among others.
Mr. Gardels completed his undergraduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and received a Master's Degree at Indiana University Bloomington. His major teachers were HakSoon Swiatkowski, Jeffrey Cohen, Emile Naoumoff, and Neil Stannard. Other mentors have included David Dubal, Cyprien Katsaris, and Ruth Slenczynska. He has also studied composition privately with Ian Krouse.
An esteemed and versatile teacher, Mr. Gardels is on the faculty of Citrus College in Glendora, CA, where he teaches class piano, applied piano, music history, and music appreciation. He has additionally developed a large and vibrant studio of private students in Los Angeles, working with students of all ages and levels. An active member of the Music Teacher's Association of California (MTAC), and the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA), he currently serves as chairperson of the masterclass program for the Pasadena Branch MTAC, bringing in guest teachers from around the world. He was voted a 2021 "Top Piano Teacher' by Steinway and Sons, and his private students have won awards at the local an international level, performed in Carnegie Hall, and gone on to become music majors.
He regularly serves as a judge and evaluator for exams and competitions and appears frequently as a masterclass clinician. In 2014 he was a visiting faculty member at the FaceArt Academy of Music in Shanghai.
Gaining increasing notoriety as a composer, his 2017 piece "Late October" was a winner of the MTAC "Composers Today" Awards, and his "Three Fantasies" for Solo Piano were released in August 2022 by Theodore Presser Music. He has also composed music for film and theatre. As a writer, his articles on music , pedagogy, and composition have been featured in The Huffington Post, Clavier, Pianist Magazine, and the California Music Teacher.
Upcoming activities include a recording of Chopin and Debussy on the Centaur Label, and a release of original works for solo piano, as well as the creation of "Alive in LA" : a solo recital program and series based up of composers and artists residing in the Los Angeles area".
"A brilliant pianist whose playing meets at the halfway point between intellect and intuition"
- David Dubal - Faculty, the Juilliard School, Author, Art of the Piano
His piano playing is filled with the utmost of a distinctive sound quality - it is genuinely inspired and charismatically inspiring. The meaningful sense of his interpretations translates his natural musicianship’s intuitive power combined with a rare and profound thoughtfulness coated in masterful craftsmanship.
-Emile Naoumoff - Composer, Pianist, Faculty Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
"His complex and varied program showcased a wide ranging array of skills from soloist to collaborator in our series"
- Antonio Damasio - Neuroscientist, Director of the Brain and Creativity Institute of the University of Southern California, event series curator.
A Los Angeles native, Mr. Gardels made his professional debut at age fifteen as a soloist in the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto with the Pasadena Youth Orchestra in the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, and made his debut appearance in Carnegie Recital Hall in 2016. He has been awarded prizes from the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the American Protege Competition, and the National Society of Arts and Letters.
He has been invited to perform solo recitals in Paris at the American Church's Atelier Concert Series, in London at St. Martin-in-the Field's "Pianists Of the World" concert series, and has studied and performed at the Alion Baltic Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, and the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City. In the Southern California area he has soloed with the Beach Cities Symphony, Young Artist's Concert Orchestra, Gold Coast Chamber Orchestra, and performed recitals at the Richard Nixon Library, USC's Dornsife Brain and Creativity Institute, Pasadena Presbyterian Church's Music at Noon series, among others.
Mr. Gardels completed his undergraduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City and received a Master's Degree at Indiana University Bloomington. His major teachers were HakSoon Swiatkowski, Jeffrey Cohen, Emile Naoumoff, and Neil Stannard. Other mentors have included David Dubal, Cyprien Katsaris, and Ruth Slenczynska. He has also studied composition privately with Ian Krouse.
An esteemed and versatile teacher, Mr. Gardels is on the faculty of Citrus College in Glendora, CA, where he teaches class piano, applied piano, music history, and music appreciation. He has additionally developed a large and vibrant studio of private students in Los Angeles, working with students of all ages and levels. An active member of the Music Teacher's Association of California (MTAC), and the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA), he currently serves as chairperson of the masterclass program for the Pasadena Branch MTAC, bringing in guest teachers from around the world. He was voted a 2021 "Top Piano Teacher' by Steinway and Sons, and his private students have won awards at the local an international level, performed in Carnegie Hall, and gone on to become music majors.
He regularly serves as a judge and evaluator for exams and competitions and appears frequently as a masterclass clinician. In 2014 he was a visiting faculty member at the FaceArt Academy of Music in Shanghai.
Gaining increasing notoriety as a composer, his 2017 piece "Late October" was a winner of the MTAC "Composers Today" Awards, and his "Three Fantasies" for Solo Piano were released in August 2022 by Theodore Presser Music. He has also composed music for film and theatre. As a writer, his articles on music , pedagogy, and composition have been featured in The Huffington Post, Clavier, Pianist Magazine, and the California Music Teacher.
Upcoming activities include a recording of Chopin and Debussy on the Centaur Label, and a release of original works for solo piano, as well as the creation of "Alive in LA" : a solo recital program and series based up of composers and artists residing in the Los Angeles area".
"A brilliant pianist whose playing meets at the halfway point between intellect and intuition"
- David Dubal - Faculty, the Juilliard School, Author, Art of the Piano
His piano playing is filled with the utmost of a distinctive sound quality - it is genuinely inspired and charismatically inspiring. The meaningful sense of his interpretations translates his natural musicianship’s intuitive power combined with a rare and profound thoughtfulness coated in masterful craftsmanship.
-Emile Naoumoff - Composer, Pianist, Faculty Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
"His complex and varied program showcased a wide ranging array of skills from soloist to collaborator in our series"
- Antonio Damasio - Neuroscientist, Director of the Brain and Creativity Institute of the University of Southern California, event series curator.