Projects
Paul Sánchez
David M. Gordon is a Chicago-area composer. Sánchez and Gordon have collaborated on various projects, and Sánchez has commissioned and premiered three of David's works: Fabular Arcana, a concerto for retuned piano and orchestra; Mysteria Incarnationis, for soprano, prepared piano, and violin; and "Consolation New," for one pianist on two microtonally-tuned pianos. Sánchez recorded Gordon's works on the CD Mysteria Fidei.
Graham Lynch, "One of the most original voices in 21st century British Music" (Piano Professional Magazine), is based in Penzance, England. Lynch and Sánchez have collaborated on a number of projects, and Sánchez has performed world premieres of several of Lynch's works, including a number of piano works which Graham wrote for Paul: White Book 3, "The Couperin Sketchbooks," and "Absolute Inwardness." Sánchez' album Seria Ludo features several of Graham's solo piano works.
The press has described Shawn Okpebholo's music as "devastatingly beautiful" and "fresh and new and fearless" (Washington Post), "affecting" (New York Times), "lyrical, complex, singular" (The Guardian), "searing" (Chicago Tribune), "dreamy, sensual" (Boston Globe), and "powerful" (BBC Music Magazine). Okpebholo and Sánchez have collaborated on four albums: Okpebholo: Steal Away; Dreams of a New Day; Lord, How Come Me Here?; and an upcoming album featuring Songs in Flight.
Cecilia Rodrigo, daughter of Joaquín Rodrigo, describes Paul Sánchez as being "among the great artists who has most contributed to the promotion and learning of the life and music of Joaquín Rodrigo in the United States." Sánchez has been interested in the music of Joaquín Rodrigo since his childhood, and attributes his love for classical music to hearing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez as a boy. In 2001, he met Cecilia Rodrigo, and they have remained in contact since then. From 2005–2007, Sánchez was a Fulbright fellow in Barcelona, Spain, where he studied with Maria Teresa Monteys and Alicia de Larrocha and earned his Master of Spanish Music degree. The music of Rodrigo was one focus of his time in Spain. In 2019, Cecilia Rodrigo asked Sánchez to create a concert in honor of the 20th anniversary of the composer's passing; Rodrigo: A Life in Music, was the result.
Paul Sánchez has loved Spanish music since his childhood, and while the music of Joaquín Rodrigo holds a particularly special place in his heart, his interest in Spanish music more broadly led him to earn a Master of Spanish Music degree under Maria Teresa Monteys and Alicia de Larrocha as a Fulbright fellow in Barcelona from 2005–2007.