“But what especially stood out in this performance, even beyond the fortepianist’s articulacy, her crystal-clear fingerwork, her delightful lightness of touch, the dynamic variety she offered and her total technical competence, was her true understanding of Mozart himself.
As she played out each gesture, the charming small rubati, as she spelled out each emotion, each small whimsical riposte, each surprise and good-natured wink-of-an-eye detail, she stood back to present Mozart the humanist, the joyful, fallible, devil-may-care genius whose contribution to music has been so great. If we consider Mozart’s aim of creating a ‘happy medium between what is too easy and too difficult... pleasing to the ear, and natural, without being vapid’, in his early Vienna concertos, Loftus’ performance was just that. It was exemplary.”
Award winning keyboardist, Gili Loftus’ three-fold expertise on the fortepiano, modern piano and harpsichord lend her playing a character that is unique to her, and which has opened up new and exciting paths for artistic and historical exploration which Gili has been invited to share through her performances and lectures on both sides of the Atlantic.
Gili has been published in Keyboard Perspectives and Schumann Studien, and her work featured in The New York Times. In May 2019, she was invited to present a recital on Clara Schumann’s original 1827 André Stein fortepiano (no. 513), housed at the Robert-Schumann-Haus in Zwickau, Germany.
In growing demand as a solo and collaborative artist, Gili is invited to play with period-instrument ensembles both internationally and in her adopted city of Montreal, and is especially happy when she is called home to play concerts in her native Israel. Most recently, Gili has been busy with the creation of Ida’s Salon Online, a new series of concerts on period instruments exploring different facets of Jewish art, life and culture in the diaspora. Gili’s studies and artistic endeavours over the years have been generously supported by the Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as Fonds AIDA, le conseil des arts et des letters du Québec and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Gili’s recordings can be heard under the Backlash Music (Berlin) and Leaf Music (Canada) labels.
Her album with clarinettist Maryse Legault, Around Baermann (Leaf Music), is racking up streams in the thousands on Amazon Music’s Classical for Dogs playlist. As a dog lover, nothing gives Loftus more pleasure than sharing her music with woman’s best friend.