Albert Cano Smit

“a moving young poet… a great romantic”

– Christophe Huss, Le Devoir

Praised as “a moving young poet” (Le Devoir), Spanish-Dutch pianist Albert Cano Smit is building a rapidly growing international career on the orchestral, recital, and chamber music stages. Winner of the 2019 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and the 2017 Walter W. Naumburg Piano Competition, Cano Smit is renowned for his captivating performances, storytelling artistry, and nuanced musicality.

He appears as soloist with leading orchestras including the Colorado Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Montréal Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, Butte Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, Elgin Symphony, Aiken Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río, Barcelona Symphony, Catalonia National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Nottingham Youth Orchestra, and the American Youth Symphony. His collaborations include conductors Andrew Grams, Katharina Wincor, Pablo Rus Broseta, Ryan Bancroft, Stephanie Childress, Christopher Dragon, and Thomas Wilkins.

Recital highlights include his Carnegie Hall debut presented by The Naumburg Foundation, his Merkin Hall debut presented by Young Concert Artists, and appearances at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton (streamed live globally), the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C., Germany’s Rheingau Music Festival, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Música, the Miami International Piano Festival, and the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, OR. He has also been presented by Festival Bach Montréal, the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C., University of Florida Performing Arts, the Krannert Center in Urbana, and Matinée Musicale in Cincinnati, and has held a seven-year residency at France’s Festival de Musique de Wissembourg. Upcoming engagements include recitals at Salle Cortot in Paris, the Kleine Zaal at the Concertgebouw, Schubertiada in Spain, the Accordi Music Festival in Italy, the Morgan Library in New York, Caramoor, Parlance Concerts, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and String Music Festival Steamboat Springs.

A devoted chamber musician, Cano Smit performs regularly with flutist Anthony Trionfo and has partnered with violinists Paul Huang and William Hagen, with whom he recorded the album Danse Russe. His recordings also include an album of Austrian viola music with Emma Wernig for Champs Hill Records. He has performed four-hand repertoire with Jean-Yves Thibaudet at the Wallis Annenberg Center and Zipper Hall, appeared with the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and collaborated with distinguished artists including Gary Hoffman, Andrej Bielow, Thomas Mesa, and Lev Sivkov. His ensemble work includes performances with leading string quartets such as the Ébène, Szymanowski, Casals, Cosmos, Gerhard, Verona, and Viano Quartets.

An advocate for new music, he has premiered numerous solo works written for him by Stephen Hough, Miquel Oliu, and Katherine Balch. He received several special prizes at the 2019 YCA Auditions, including the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Concert Prize supporting his Kennedy Center debut, the Friends of Music Concert Prize (NY), and the Sunday Musicale Prize (NJ). He has also served as a piano fellow at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival and Tippet Rise Art Center, and made his recital debut in Asia at Xiamen’s Banlam Grand Theater.

His debut solo recording of Bach’s Art of Fugue was released on Aparté in March 2025 to critical acclaim, earning five Diapasons from The Diapason magazine.

Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Cano Smit began his musical training at the Escolania de Montserrat, where he sang as an alto, before pursuing piano studies with Graham Caskie, Marta Karbownicka, and Ory Shihor. An alum of the Verbier Festival Academy, he holds a BA in Piano Performance from the Colburn School and an MM from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Robert McDonald, receiving the 2020 Rubinstein Prize for Piano and completing an Artist Diploma.

~

YCA represents pianist Albert Cano Smit for worldwide engagements. Please contact us for more information.