Please Note: There are two performances per night!
Performance #1
Pre-Show Reception: 6:00PM - 7:00PM
Concert: 7:00PM - 8:00PM
Performance #2
Pre-Show Reception: 7:30PM - 8:30PM
Concert: 8:30PM - 9:30PM
Pianist Albert Cano Smit left home at nine to study at the monastery Escolania de Montserrat in Catalonia, where he experienced firsthand how music could interwoven into both daily life and the divine. For our second performance in Riverside Church’s soaring, intimate Christ Chapel, he brings a solo piano program centered on Beethoven’s final sonata: the towering Opus 111.
Opus 111 is a work that begins in strife and struggle of its first movement, and ends in the celestial transcendence of its second movement, which slowly and inexorably unfolds across a series of variations, before dissolving into an ecstatic series of trills. Smit program pairs the Opus 111 with Katherine Balch's similarly bifurcated and conflicted piece Two Memories, and bookends them both with two appropriately resplendent Bach transcriptions.
One of today’s most profound young pianists offers a musical communion centered on Beethoven’s singularly soul-obliterating final sonata.
What You Can Expect
For the pre-show hour-long reception, you'll enjoy cocktails, wine, charcuterie and snacks overlooking the city in the gorgeous tenth floor tower room at Riverside Church (all included in ticket price - it's enough food to stave off starvation, but you'll still probably want a bit more of a meal before or after the show). Then we'll descend to Christ Chapel for an hour-long performance – seating for the audience is general admission, but there are no bad seats given the intimacy of the space!
J.S. Bach/Kempff – Siciliano from the Flute Sonata N.2, BWV1031
Balch – Two Memories
Beethoven – Piano Sonata N.32 in C minor, Op.111
J.S. Bach/Hensel – Sonatina from Gottes zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV106i
Praised as “a moving young poet” (Le Devoir), Spanish-Dutch pianist Albert Cano Smit is building a rapidly growing international career on the orchestral, recital, and chamber music stages. Winner of the 2019 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and the 2017 Walter W. Naumburg Piano Competition, Cano Smit is renowned for his captivating performances, storytelling artistry, and nuanced musicality.
He appears as soloist with leading orchestras including the Colorado Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Montréal Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Butte Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, Barcelona Symphony, and Manchester Camerata, working with conductors such as Andrew Grams, Pablo Rus Broseta, Ryan Bancroft, Stephanie Childress, Christopher Dragon, and Thomas Wilkins. A passionate chamber musician, he performs regularly with flutist Anthony Trionfo and has partnered with violinists Paul Huang and William Hagen, with whom he recorded the album Danse Russe. His ensemble work includes performances with the Ébène, Casals, Verona, and Viano Quartets.
Recital highlights include debuts at Carnegie Hall presented by The Naumburg Foundation and at Merkin Hall with Young Concert Artists, as well as performances at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Germany’s Rheingau Music Festival, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Música, the Miami International Piano Festival, and the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, OR. Upcoming engagements include recitals at Salle Cortot in Paris, the Kleine Zaal at the Concertgebouw, Schubertiada in Spain, the Accordi Music Festival in Italy, the Morgan Library in New York, Caramoor, and String Music Festival Steamboat Springs. His debut solo recording of Bach’s Art of Fugue was released on Aparté in March 2025, earning five Diapasons from The Diapason magazine.
He holds degrees from the Colburn School and The Juilliard School, where he studied with Robert McDonald, receiving the 2020 Rubinstein Prize for Piano and completing an Artist Diploma.
Albert Cano Smit’s place on the YCA roster in 2026-2027 is generously sponsored by the Alan and Li Colberg Family Foundation.