Pianist and composer David Virelles grew up in a musical family in Santiago de Cuba, immersed in both the Afro-Caribbean diaspora's music and Western classical traditions. Invited to Canada by Jane Bunnett in 2001, Virelles moved to Toronto, before relocating to New York in 2009. While he considers his work "a hundred percent traditional," drawing from a synthesis of traditions, he creates a unique, syncretic personal music rather than merely mixing elements or recreating existing styles. This vision was showcased in Virelles’ recent world premiere of his interdisciplinary piece ORO, commissioned by Carnegie Hall.
In addition to his solo work, Virelles has collaborated with Bunnett, Henry Threadgill, Ravi Coltrane, Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman, Oliver Lake, Tomasz Stanko, Bill Frisell, Román Díaz, Milford Graves, Chris Potter, Tom Harrell, Wadada Leo Smith, Steve Coleman, Mark Turner, Paul Motian, Marcus Gilmore, Terri Lyne Carrington, Changuito, Chucho Valdés, Stanley Cowell, Hermeto Pascoal, and Juan Pablo Torres.
Virelles' 2012 album Continuum appeared on many “Best of the Year” lists, being selected as the #1 album by The New York Times. He has released three critically acclaimed projects on the legendary ECM label—Mbóko, Antenna, and Gnosis—each documenting a wide artistic range. His album Igbó Alákọrin (The Singer's Grove) Vol I & II celebrates Santiago de Cuba's musical history, featuring local music legends and recorded at the Siboney E.G.R.E.M. studios in Santiago. It was named Best Latin Jazz album by NPR in 2017. In 2020, Virelles released Transformación del Arcoiris with Pi Recordings, an electronic EP available exclusively on BandCamp. His 2022 album NUNA (El Tivoli Music/Pi Recordings), an exploration of solo piano, was named one of the best albums of the year by publications including The New York Times and NPR, and it won the Aaron Copland Fund for Music Award. His most recent release, Carta (Intakt Records), features his trio with longtime collaborators Ben Street and Eric McPherson.
Virelles is a Shifting Foundation Fellow and a recipient of awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Louis Applebaum Award, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Cristobal Díaz Ayala Travel Grant, the Grand Prix de Jazz de Montreal General Motors, and The Jazz Gallery Commission.He has been named #1 Rising Star in the Piano category by DownBeat Magazine and Artist of the Year by Musica Jazz Magazine (Italy). While a student at Humber College in Toronto, he won the Oscar Peterson Prize, presented by Peterson himself. He is also a recipient of the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts and the CINTAS Fellowship in Music Composition.
Virelles has been a professor at the Zürich University of the Arts since 2021 and has been a guest lecturer at institutions such as the Basel Jazz Campus and the Focus Year special program,CalArts, UCLA, the Siena Jazz Summer Workshop, JazzDanmark's Summer Sessions, the Amsterdam Conservatory, Fayetteville State University, and Harvard University.
Virelles' recent world premiere of his interdisciplinary piece ORO at Zankel Hall—a Carnegie Hall commission curated by composer Tania León and featuring Dafnis Prieto—received positive reviews from fans and musicians alike.
David Virelles is a Steinway Artist.
