Albert Cano Smit

Spanish-Dutch pianist Albert Cano Smit enjoys a growing international career on the orchestral, recital, and chamber music stages. Noted for his captivating performances and nuanced musicality, the First Prize winner at the 2017 Walter W. Naumburg Piano Competition and the 2019 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions has appeared as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, the San Diego, Montréal, Barcelona Symphonies, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and Catalonia National Orchestra. Recital highlights have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. An advocate for new music, Cano Smit has premiered numerous solo works commissioned for him by Stephen Hough, Miquel Oliu, and Katherine Balch. He has given four-hand performances with Jean-Yves Thibaudet and has collaborated with ensembles such as the Verona Quartet. A polyglot who speaks five languages, Cano Smit was born in Geneva, the son of a Dutch mother and Spanish father. He left home at age nine to join the Escolania de Montserrat choir school. He completed an Artist Diploma and Master’s Degree with Robert McDonald at The Juilliard School. He also holds a B.A. in Piano Performance from the Colburn School with Ory Shihor, and studied at Chetham’s School of Music with Marta Karbownicka and Graham Caskie. He is an alum of the Verbier Festival Academy and Ravinia Steans Institute.