Gabriela Martinez, a semifinalist in the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will be the featured performer for the annual Stephen Barr Memorial Concert. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in Martin Hall. For more information, call 817-531-4404.

Lauded by The New York Times as “compelling, elegant, and incisive,” Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Martinez is quickly establishing a reputation and earning praise as a versatile artist who combines “panache and poetry” (Dallas Morning News) with a “sense of grace and clarity” (The Star Ledger – [New Jersey]).

Miss Martinez performed at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where she received a Jury Discretionary Award. Of her 2005 Van Cliburn performance, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote, “Gabriela Martinez took the couture prize so far, and she displayed a big musical personality to match. Her Liszt Petrarch Sonnet No. 104 was drop-dead gorgeous, the expressive freedom lavish but organic.”

Since making her orchestral debut at age 7, Ms. Martinez has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Fort Worth, Chicago, New Jersey, Pacific and San Francisco Symphonies, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, MDR Rundfunkorchester, Nurnberger Philharmoniker, Symphonisches Staatsorchester Halle, Tivoli Philharmonic, and regularly performs with the Simón Bolívar Youth Symphony Orchestra.

The 28-year old Juilliard student has won numerous national and international prizes and awards. Her most recent accomplishments include first prize and audience award at the Anton G. Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Dresden.