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Biography

Canadian pianist and Steinway Artist Arthur Rowe is a critically acclaimed recitalist, soloist with orchestra and chamber musician.

Following a New York solo recital, The New York Times wrote: “The Canadian pianist Arthur Rowe made an immediate and positive impression...before eight bars had gone by, one knew he was capable of vigor without heaviness, energy without excess of drive. It was first-rate playing: a kind of execution tinglingly alive to the shape and contribution of each phrase." Reviewing a solo recital in London England, The London Times spoke of his "unusual clarity of articulation," and "poetry of expression," and David Burge, writing in The San Diego Tribune said, "Rowe is a marvelous pianist...even when he is pushed to the limit by extreme virtuosic demands...he can concentrate all of his considerable talents on vital matters of phrasing, tone and ensemble."

A highly respected chamber musician, Mr. Rowe’s first collaborative performances began while he was still a second year student at Western University, when he was invited to tour in concerts across Canada with esteemed Professor of Cello Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. While completing graduate studies at Indiana University with Gyorgy Sebok, he was performing recitals, chamber music and concerti at venues in the United States and Canada, many recorded for broadcast by CBC Radio and NPR in the U.S. In the ensuing decades he has performed widely throughout North America and has been a guest artist at summer festivals in Blossom, Interlochen, Niagara, Santa Fe and Seattle, as well as in France, New Zealand, and Yugoslavia.

Arthur Rowe has recorded with various artists for the Crystal, ebs, Innova, GM and Fanfare labels. In 2004 The Harrington String Quartet joined forces with Arthur Rowe and Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil in New York, for a performance of the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, which was reviewed by Harris Goldsmith as a "reading that rivaled the benchmark recordings by Franzescatti/Casadesus/Pascal, and Heifetz/Sanroma/New Arts.”

In 2007, he released an all-Schubert recording on the Centaur label (). Fanfare magazine’s review says, “Rowe’s reading (of the posthumous B-flat Sonata) is one of the most beautiful I have heard...The D. 899 Impromptus are equally impressive...his purling right-hand runs recall Schnabel’s velvety sound...every harmonic change is underscored by a delicate nuance of color change. This kind of expression cannot be taught; it is in the bloodstream and the soul.”

In addition to his performing activities, Arthur Rowe has for many years been the Artistic Director of both the Victoria Summer Music Festival, and The Jeffery Concerts in London Ontario. Through these venues he has an opportunity to present both world renowned artists and exceptional young artists to audiences in these communities. Some of his recent performances have included concerts with laureates of the Banff International String Quartet Competition including the Dover, Viano, Marmen and Isidore Quartets. In 2022, Arthur Rowe and Jonathan Crow, Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony, performed the complete cycle of Beethoven violin sonatas in Victoria and London, Ontario.

Having previously held positions at the University of Iowa and the University of Western Ontario, Arthur Rowe is a Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano at the ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø, where he has also served as Acting Director of the School of Music and Acting Associate Dean of Fine Arts. While at UVic he was instrumental in enabling the School of Music to become Canada’s first All-Steinway School of Music. He has also been a guest clinician at numerous Universities in North America including the Cleveland Institute, Oberlin, and The University of Texas at Austin.

Webpages

Select performance

• , Dream Piano Trios: A Tribute to Eugene Osadchy, October 2020
• , Schubert with Blackman, Yoon and Rowe, August 2021

Reviews

Arthur Rowe is featured on CHEK TV ahead of the School of Music's 12th anniversary Steinway Celebration in January 2020.