“The finest interpreter of Mozart in the world” (Südhessen Woche - Germany) is how European newspapers once greeted international concert pianist - Gil Sullivan - on a concert tour there. 2013 saw his second recital in Carnegie Hall, where the New York Concert Review said - “Mr. Sullivan gave more than ample proof that his sterling reputation as an interpreter of Mozart is truly well deserved”. In the U.S., the acclamations continue - “Gil Sullivan’s talent is breathtaking. Music you may have heard before - perhaps many times before - takes on new meaning and presence when he interprets it; he holds audiences spellbound with the music, and is an exceptional performer in every way. It was as if we had been transported to Carnegie Hall. His interpretations of Chopin, Beethoven and Liszt dazzled the audience…..a most remarkable piano concert” (Aiken Standard – South Carolina). “It was an exciting concert by a pianist possessed of supreme intelligence and phenomenal technical prowess in equal measure” - (New York Concert Review). “This recital was every bit the equal of Pascal Roge’s in this same concert series last month” (San Francisco Bay View).
In Europe - “It is hard to believe that just one person could so convincingly make the piano sound like a full orchestra” (Darmstadter Echo - Germany). “There were so many magical moments…even Brahms himself would have been impressed” [of the 2nd Sonata] (Weinheimer Nachrichten - Germany). “Not just another pianistic wizard, but a cultured and refined musician, whose rare and insightful vision into the very soul of the music cast a magical spell over the entire concert hall” (Badische Zeitung - Germany). “Sullivan made an indelible and truly unforgettable impression upon the packed audience, with his astonishing accuracy, enticing from the keys of the grand piano, an almost blinding fireworks-display of technical and musical brilliance!” [of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata] (Lahrer Zeitung - Germany)
In Australia, critics have been equally enthusiastic - “Playing informed by brilliance of tone and accuracy ... invariably placed at the service of the music” (The Australian). “...Sullivan’s digital athleticism made a lot of noisy sparks fly with a spontaneity that is all too often lacking from live performance these days...” (The Advertiser). “Sullivan’s interpretation of Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ concerto is one of overall directness and command....authority and flair....with sensitive rubatos and a fine tonal range” (Australian Music Maker).
Each time invited by MidAmerica Productions, Gil Sullivan has twice performed in New York's Carnegie Hall to full houses, and on each occasion, to screaming & enthusiastic standing ovations. He has also given recitals in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Berlin and Vienna Konzerthäuse, the Bruges Concertgebouw (filmed by Belgium Television), Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Berlin’s St. Marien Church, Vienna’s St. Stephan’s Cathedral, Chicago's Center for International Performance and Exhibition, New Hampshire's Claremont Opera House, Darmstadt's Orangerie (Germany), the Melbourne Recital Centre, the Vietnam National Opera House, and the National Concert Halls of Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea.
In concerto, he has performed with many orchestras, most recently with the San Francisco Wind Orchestra in Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Orchestra. Also with (as both conductor and soloist) chamber orchestras in South Carolina and San Francisco, plus the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra, the Fremantle and Darwin Symphony Orchestras.
He continues to tour regularly throughout the U.S.A., Europe, the U.K., Asia, and extensively around Australia. His tour of Europe in 2009 saw recitals in London, Madrid, Zurich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, Warsaw and Prague, where The Frankfurter Rundschau wrote:-
“Gil Sullivan - who, in Australia is one of the greats - is a pleasant exception amongst the unfortunately rising number of younger male, and especially female, pianists who present themselves on their CDs in a neat and sexy fashion, but whose playing often provokes only a bored yawn. And Sullivan especially does not submit to what popular music taste dictates – mainstream, as it is called nowadays – which says that Mozart has to sound such and such, or Chopin in exactly that way. No, Gil Sullivan does it his own way; he is a philosopher, he questions, he analyses and only then does he sit down at his instrument. His playing of Mozart is truly unique and altogether spellbinding, like no Mozart playing this reviewer has ever heard. Many times I felt I was listening to Mozart himself there on stage, so bold, fresh, stylish, and innovative were the interpretations, which never affected the music's true kernel”.
Gil’s earliest ambitions in music were not towards the piano, but in composition. He came to the attention of Australia’s most important composer of the last 100 years, Richard Meale, who invited him to undertake lessons; Gil was only 14 and still at school. During these years, he composed 2 Symphonies, 2 Piano Concertos, 4 Piano Sonatas, an Orchestral Overture – “The Cemetery Breathes at Midnight”, plus much chamber music and many songs. His work “Snake” (after the D.H. Lawrence poem), for soprano and large chamber ensemble, toured Europe with the group Felix Australia. He later studied conducting with Elyakum Shapirra and Nicholas Braithwaite.
After distinguishing himself in piano studies in Adelaide - South Australia, studying under Ffrangcon Davies, Diana Harris, Romola Costantino, and Clemens Leske, he travelled to Europe for short study periods with world-renowned pianists Murray Perahia in London, and Paul Badura-Skoda at the Vienna Hochschule. He has frequently recorded and performed live for ABC’s National FM Radio, and Hong Kong Radio 4.
In 1991, Gil performed – in 10 weekly recitals - the entire solo piano works of Mozart, then in music festivals around Australia and throughout Europe in 2006, gave a 5-program recital series, performing all 20 of Mozart’s piano sonatas, and is one of the only pianists in the world who plays the entire piano works of Mozart.
In 1997, he also celebrated with the rest of the music world in the centenary of the death of Johannes Brahms. Performing a 5-concert series of all-Brahms recitals – all broadcast live over national FM radio - critic Roger Covell wrote “...in every phrase, Sullivan’s impassioned and deeply considered approach to music is, in every way worthy of attention and devotion ... engrossing, fully engaging the listener in his concentrated and complex interpretations that sought the very essence of the music.” (Sydney Morning Herald), while Roger Knight wrote - “Throughout, the playing was marked by a singular degree of coherence, continuity and lucidity which underpinned Mr. Sullivan’s well-honed skills as a colourist” (The Adelaide Review).
In chamber music Mr. Sullivan has - in his travels around the world – collaborated, toured and recorded with American violinist Charles Castleman, British Oboist Anthony Camden, Henrik Schaefer, principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic, plus members of the Vienna and London Philharmonic Orchestras, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Medici String Quartet, Australians Paul Wright, Michael Goldschlager, Rachel Johnson and Stephen King (both ASQ), Georg Pedersen, and Jane Peters.
Mr. Sullivan is also a distinguished and enthusiastic teacher, with residencies, plus full and part-time teaching positions that include the Seoul Art School and Ewha Womens University–South Korea; National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University–Taiwan; Hanoi Conservatory–Vietnam; The Hong Kong Institute of Education; TAFE and the Elder Conservatorium–S.A.; University of Western Australia, and the W.A. Academy of Music; the Charles Darwin University, and the Victorian College of the Arts. He has also lectured and given masterclasses at London’s Royal Academy and Royal College of Music, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance, London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, South Carolina University, Chico University–Sacramento, and most recently at the Australian National Academy of Music. In 2003, he gave his 4 hour lecture-recital on Mozart’s piano works at Oxford University
In 2024, Gil played a 2-month concert tour of Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Serbia, & London, at the end of which, he completed an enormous 2-year project in Budapest, recording the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas. As a separate Album whilst in Budapest, he also recorded the 6 Chopin Polonaises, & late last year, recorded an all-Bach and an all-Liszt Album. These are all available as downloads via most major music streaming sites.
Gil is a permanent jury member of the Cochran International Piano Competition, based in Warsaw – Poland. In 2024, he also adjudicated the Australian Concerto & Vocal Competition in Townsville, Queensland. For the International Journal for Music Education, published in London, and with a worldwide membership of over 50 countries, Gil wrote regular articles for many years. Please also visit the Music Store on Gil’s website – www.gilsullivan.com.au - to purchase downloads.