Photo: Micah Gleason
Over the past decade, Spanish pianist and scholar Javier Arrebola has established himself as a vital presence in the world of art song, known for his distinctive blend of creativity, artistry, and scholarly insight.
He currently serves as Artistic Associate at Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio and is on the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center. Previously, he has held key leadership and teaching roles, including Co-Artistic Director and Director of the Piano Program at SongFest, Head of Piano for the Program for Singers at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Chair of Collaborative Piano at Boston University, and Visiting Professor at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. His expertise has also been welcomed at leading institutions around the world, such as The Juilliard School, Shanghai Conservatory, New England Conservatory, University of Minnesota, Bard College, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, Conservatoire Hector Berlioz in Paris, and The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School in Toronto.
Mr. Arrebola has worked closely with renowned artists such as Renée Fleming, Graham Johnson, Dawn Upshaw, Will Liverman, and Anthony Roth Costanzo, among many others. His artistic reach extends beyond the stage to visual media and digital production. He served as video editor and illustrator for Schubert in Life & Song, a landmark series by Graham Johnson presented by Wigmore Hall, and was the creator and curator of Songs of Unity & Hope, a global online event for SongFest featuring performances in over 40 languages from more than 60 countries.
Fluent in both Spanish and English, Mr. Arrebola also has a working knowledge of German, French, Italian, Swedish, and Finnish, weaving these languages seamlessly into the fabric of his artistic and intellectual pursuits. He holds both a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, as well as degrees in Piano Performance and Chamber Music from the Madrid Royal Conservatory. His doctoral work encompassed the public performance of all of Schubert’s completed piano sonatas — presented alongside selected songs and chamber works — on both historical fortepianos and modern instruments, and culminated in a written thesis on The Unfinished Piano Sonatas of Franz Schubert.