She’s the “Gee whiz” factor, personified
Dear friends of PPI,
When I was studying Journalism, one of the news values I was taught early on was the “Gee whiz!” factor. According to Mass media towards the Year 2000 (I still have a copy), it was the American publisher William Randolph Hearst who first defined news as “anything that makes a reader say, ‘Gee whiz!’” Naturally, there are myriad reasons to criticize Hearst’s sensationalist approach to mass media, but the human impulse driving his definition of news is something I think of every time PPI brings a pianist to the stage. Technically awe-inspiring pianists, like I wrote two weeks ago, are no rarity. But one that truly makes even those of us intimately familiar with the repertory say, “Gee whiz!”? Those are worth getting dressed up and leaving the house for!
Believe me when I say that the "Gee whiz!" factor (and almost every other news value in the book, including meaningfulness, consonance, unexpectedness and continuity) will be on full display when PPI’s season opens in only three weeks and three days with Gabriela Montero’s “Sunlight in Iberia” program.
With a biography that can fill a shelf at Powells, Gabriela Montero is not only a former child prodigy, a multi-disciplinary virtuoso, a mentor, a teacher and a Latin Grammy winner – she’s also a fearless human rights advocate. She played at the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009, alongside Yo-Yo Ma. She was named honorary consul of Amnesty International in 2015. And just a year ago, in October 2025, she gave a musical tribute to Venezuelan opposition leader Madia Corina Machado at the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo.
Her playing is exquisite, imaginative and intuitive, her programming brilliant and intentional. With the “Iberian” repertory she’s bringing to Portland, the sense of being transported through space and time will be ever present. To quote our curator, Boris Giltburg (from an equally newsworthy piece of journalism, a fabulous full-length article about PPI’s upcoming season published in Oregon ArtsWatch last week): “If you look at the pieces themselves, there is a coherent theme behind them of Spain as an idea, whether it’s the actual country where the composer lived, or where the composer was from, or it’s a Spanish dance in origin, like the Bolero by Chopin, or the Spanish Rhapsody by Liszt, which is inspired by some Spanish motifs.”
And, as an encore, she’s committed to completely wowing us with an improvisation on a theme suggested by an audience member. What is not eye-popping and jaw-dropping about that?
If you already have your tickets secured – hurray for you! Now is the time to really start getting excited! If you haven’t committed yet, you still have the opportunity to snag one of the remaining seats.
Come gather with us and hear Gabriela Montero. She’s the “Gee whiz”-factor, personified!