Critically acclaimed by the New York Concert Review as having given “the most genuinely fascinating recital debut in many a moon,” for her New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, pianist Gisele Nacif Witkowski has been performing extensively throughout the USA, South America, Russia, Asia, and Europe.
She has appeared as guest artist and professor in several music festivals, including the Amalfi Coast in Italy, the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in the USA, and the São João del Rey, Ourinhos, and Londrina Music Festivals in Brazil. Presently, she is the co-director of the Hotchkiss in Florence Music and Arts Program in Italy and the co-director of the Hotchkiss Piano Summer Portals in the USA. Her orchestral engagements include numerous appearances with the São Bernardo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Piracicaba Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Rio Claro, The Wallingford Orchestra, the Hartt Symphony Orchestra, and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra.
Mrs. Nacif has collaborated with several chamber groups including the Fine Arts Quartet, the São Paulo String Quartet, the Amerigo Trio, Quink vocal ensemble, cellist Robert deMaine, amongst others. Mrs. Witkowski performs regularly with her husband, pianist Fabio Witkowski, as the Witkowski Piano Duo. Their long list of concerts includes prestigious venues such as the Gardens of Villa Rufolo, in Ravello, Italy, at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C., at The Symphony Hall, in Shanghai, at the Shenzhen Concert Hall, and at Carnegie Hall, in New York City. According to the New York Concert Review, the duo “shows marvelous rubato and tremendously clean playing, with a lovely sense of tone”.
Mrs. Nacif began her piano studies with her parents at age four. She graduated from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and received her Bachelor’s degree from the Santa Marcelina College where she studied with Daisy de Luca and Isabel Mourão. She became the first prize winner of several piano competitions and received a full scholarship from the Brazilian Government to study at the Manhattan School of Music in NY with Ms. Nina Svetlanova, where she received her Masters degree. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the Hartt School of Music where she studied under the tutelage of Luiz de Moura Castro. She is currently a member of the piano faculty at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut.