Paul Sánchez, associate professor of piano at Texas State University, has been named the 2026 national winner of The American Prize in Piano Performance (concerto), The Lorin Hollander Award, for his performance of David M. Gordon’s “Fabular Arcana.”
The recording was captured during the world premiere of the 40-minute concerto, performed by Sánchez with conductor David Gier and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.
“Learning the news brought an immediate smile to my face, along with a deep sense of humility and gratitude,” Sánchez said. “There are so many extraordinary artists performing today that I certainly never assumed an outcome like this.”
The project began when Gier, music director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, invited Sánchez to perform during the orchestra’s 100th anniversary season and gave him freedom to select the repertoire. Sánchez proposed commissioning a new piano concerto from Gordon, a longtime friend and collaborator.
The result was “Fabular Arcana,” a work for retuned piano and an orchestra featuring more than 80 percussion instruments.
“It is microtonal, wildly virtuosic, and intellectually demanding, filled with intricate metric modulations and complex polymetric structures,” Sánchez said. “It presents some of the most formidable technical and mental challenges I have ever encountered on stage.”
The composer, conductor, orchestra, and soloist had only a few rehearsals to prepare the work before its world premiere.
“The true hero of this award is the power of artistic collaboration,” Sánchez said. “Executing a brand-new, extraordinarily complex 40-minute score live on stage with minimal rehearsal time required absolute trust among the pianist, conductor, composer, and orchestral musicians.”
