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Biography
The name Nelson Goerner is already firmly established as one of the most remarkable pianists of his
generation. Born in 1969 in San Pedro in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, he revealed his exceptional
gifts very early on by teaching himself to read and write before the age of three.
His family – whose diverse origins include Sudeten Germany, Italy, Spain and Bolivia – was not a musical
one and there was no school of music and no musical life in their town. When Nelson displayed a lively interest
in music at an early age, the local piano teacher advised his parents to take him to the National Conservatoire
in Buenos Aires, where he met Jorge Garrubba, a pupil of the illustrious Vincenzo Scaramuzza, who became his private
teacher until the age of 13 and under whose direction he gave his first recital at age 11.
At this stage his piano lessons tended to be few and far between because he still lived in San Pedro, a considerable
distance away, After Jorge Garrubba’s death, he was taught by Juan Carlos Arabian, under whose direction he began to
appear in public regularly and, in 1986, was awarded 1st prize at the Buenos Aires Franz Liszt piano competition,
which allowed him to make his debut with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra at the Teatro Colon. The same year
he changed teachers, starting to work with Carmen Scalcione, who had been a favourite pupil of Vincenzo Scaramuzza’s
and whose influence upon his musical development proved decisive.
He continued to appear in public in Argentina and, following a meeting with Martha Argerich, received a joint
scholarship from the CIMAE Foundation’s Council for Art and Science and the Mozarteum Argentino, which enabled him
to travel to Europe, where his meeting with Maria Tipo - the other key meeting of his musical life - took place. He
took her post-graduate classes at the Geneva Conservatoire, receiving a First Prize with distinction in 1990 and,
the same year, winning the Geneva International Musical Execution Competition, a success which opened the doors
wide to an international career....
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