Photo by Karen Bourdier.
DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI thrills audiences around the world with their exciting, innovative, diverse, and intimate programming style. They explore music for both one piano four hands and two-piano four hands in the standard and contemporary repertoire as well as commissioning new works by national and international composers. Lauded as “…breathing the same artistic air…” with an adrenaline of communication that captivates audiences of every generation, DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI creates beautifully synchronized performances that engage both the eye and ear in a dance of emotions.
Since their inception in 2018, DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI have given standing room only performances of Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story for the centenary celebration of the composer’s birth and their two-piano program “Immigration and Opportunity” with works by composers inspired by or writing in foreign lands. In their 2022-2023 season, they were invited to perform and give master classes across the U.S., including venues in New York City and Boston, the states of Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, Colorado, Washington, California, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and their home base in Maine. They gave concerts in Mexico and premiered their four-hand arrangement of Chinese composer Shi Fu’s Tajik Drum Dance at the 44th International European Piano Teachers Association Conference in Portugal. They gave their New York City recital debut at Steinway Hall on April 1, 2023. Their upcoming recording projects include Music of the Americas, music written for and/or inspired by children, and a series of newly commissioned and rarely performed works for two pianos and one piano four hands.
DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI are frequent guest artists at universities and other institutions, such as Harvard University, Phillips Exeter Academy, Boston’s St. Botolph Club, University of Texas at Arlington, Lamar University, Tarleton University, Texas A&M-Commerce, Ohio State University, Capital University, University of Akron, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, University of Memphis, Osher Institute at the University of California-San Diego, and many others. They have an exciting 2023-2024 concert season with upcoming performance tours and residencies in New England, the Northwest, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, the Bay Area, and Mexico, and will complete their 2020 tour of China, which was interrupted by the pandemic, in June of 2024. They will be interviewed on the All Classical Portland radio show Thursdays @ 3 in Portland, Oregon this summer, where they will perform four-hand works, including works they have arranged from the two-piano repertoire.
As highly experienced pedagogues and conference presenters with over 50 years of combined teaching experience, DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI have developed workshops and lectures to audiences of all levels and will be giving a series of virtual and in person lecture-recitals for the Southeast Asia Piano Teachers Symposium, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand throughout their 2023-2024 concert season.
The Robert Beckwith Artist-in-Residence at Bowdoin College, GEORGE LOPEZ, pianist and conductor, has been a dynamic performer, sought-after pedagogue, and engaging lecturer for over 30 years. Known for his "...kaleidoscopic colors and clarity of conception..." (Los Angeles Times) in the standard repertoire as well as being a champion of newly written works, Mr. Lopez gave a highly acclaimed solo recital debut at the renowned Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and was lauded as “… authentic and memorable …” by the Nederlands Dagblad for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations along with all Twenty-Four Preludes of Chopin. He performed the complete sonatas of Mozart, all five Piano Concertos of Beethoven, the complete Etude-Tableaux of Rachmaninoff, all 27 Etudes and the Four Ballades of Chopin, and recently did the entire 4-volume set of Bach’sKlavierubungen, which he performed on organ, harpsichord, and piano.
Mr. Lopez performs worldwide as a soloist in major cities throughout Europe, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Central and South America. His extensive performances cover most major U.S. cities, including New York’s Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Paul Hall at the Juilliard School, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Ambassador Hall in Los Angeles, the Shao Lin Arts Center in Rockport, Massachusetts, The Cleveland Art Museum, Harvard University, and Tanglewood. After his performance at Lincoln Center, the composer Lowell Liebermann described the performance of his work as “… exciting and decisive!”
A featured soloist at many international music festivals throughout America, Europe, and other continents, Mr. Lopez performed at the renowned Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Girona Internacional Festival de Musica in Spain, the Kowmung Festival just outside Sydney, Australia, Festivale d’Internazionale Solisti e Musica da Camera in Umbria, Italy, and the Latin-American music festival Cubadisco in Havana, Cuba. He performed as guest soloist with the National Symphony of São Paolo in Brazil, Rose Hall in Osaka, Asahi Hall in Tokyo, and appeared as guest soloist and conductor with the New Hampshire Symphony in J. S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor. Mr. Lopez has been a regular guest artist with renowned chamber ensembles, including the Emerson, Carpe Diem, Rainier, Skyros, and Ying Quartets. He collaborates in recording and outreach projects with members of major symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, The Met Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and The New World Symphony. Mr. Lopez recorded Italian composer Romeo Melloni’s Piano Concerto No. 1 dedicated to him with the acclaimed Prague Chamber Orchestra in the former Czech Republic and recently premiered a new Piano Concerto by the Indo-American composer Dr. Vineet Shende. Mr. Lopez has given radio performances and interviews on Cuban Salon music, the Music of Sherlock Holmes, and all 27 Etudes of Chopin. His interdisciplinary and multi-cultural “Music in the Museum” series at Bowdoin College consistently sells out to audiences who enjoy his creative and engaging lecture-recitals on the relationship of music, art, and its cultural history.
Mr. Lopez is an acclaimed public speaker at regional, national, and international conferences throughout the United States and Europe, including the MTNA, NCKP, and EPTA conferences in recent years. He frequently gives masterclasses throughout North America, Latin America, and Europe at prestigious institutions, such as the Manhattan School in New York, Berkeley University, Boston University, the Faber Institute, the International Keyboard Odyssiad Festival, The Music Institute of Chicago, and Steinway Hall. Mr. Lopez received First Prize for the Diplome Superieure at the renowned Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris and the distinguished Uitvorend Musicus degree from the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. As the artistic director and conductor of the Bowdoin College Symphony Orchestra, he leads one of the most dynamic all-student symphonic programs in the New England region.
Internationally acclaimed Chinese-American pianist, GULIMINA MAHAMUTI is the first Uyghur from China to receive a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the United States. She enjoys an active career and performs extensively in major cities in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, Turkey, and China, with broadcasts on radio and state television. She performed in Budapest at the invitation of the Turkish Ambassador in Hungary, in Istanbul under the auspices of Turkish State Conservatory of Music, and in China, where she was named Honorary Guest Professor at Yili Normal University, College of Arts. Dr. Mahamuti performed at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, where she gave the the U.S. premiere performances of Chinese-American composer Chen Yi's Variations on “Awariguli” and Chinese composer Shi Fu’s Xinjiang Suite No. 2. Subsequently, she released her CD recording, Xinjiang Piano Music from Western China, featuring piano music of her native region in China. She performed piano concerti with the Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra, the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, and the Harbin Symphony Orchestra in China and was featured on San Francisco Turkish Radio, San Francisco Community Radio, and Queens College of CUNY online podcast in the U.S., Touch Radio in China, and Istanbul Technical University Radio in Turkey.
Dr. Mahamuti was published in major music journals, including People’s Music in China and Clavier Companion in the U.S. Her editorial work on the Chinese composer Shi Fu’s piano compositions was acknowledged by the distinguished Shanghai Music Publishing House (SMPH) in China. Her thesis on Shi Fu’s Three Xinjiang Piano Suites has become the main reference for Chinese and western music scholars. She presented at the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association and was one of the Plenary Session panelists representing China on “A Conversation with Pedagogy Leaders from Around the World” at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago. Recently, she gave a lecture-recital at the 44th International European Piano Teachers Conference in Portugal and was one of the MTNA Webinar panelists. She was invited to present at the NCKP Webinar in January, 2024.
Dr. Mahamuti was born in Karamay City, Xinjiang, western China and because of her life experience as a touring concert pianist, she has been interviewed frequently by Chinese newspapers and China State Television. She was featured in a two-part series, “Conversations with Pianist Dr. Gulimina Mahamuti,” on Karamay City’s Public Television Network. Her life story was the subject of a documentary on the Gansu Province Public Television Network. Before moving to the beautiful state of Maine in May of 2018, she was an Assistant Professor of Music at Ohio Wesleyan University and previously taught at Capital University, and as Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University Missouri-Kansas City and Pittsburg State University. Dr. Mahamuti is the Immediate Past President of the MaineMTA and serves on MTNA’s National DEI Committee. She was nominated by MTNA as one of the two national candidates for the DEI Vice Presidency and will be chairing the 2024 MTNA National Conference’s Pedagogy Saturday DEI Track in Atlanta, GA.
Since their inception in 2018, DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI have given standing room only performances of Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story for the centenary celebration of the composer’s birth and their two-piano program “Immigration and Opportunity” with works by composers inspired by or writing in foreign lands. In their 2022-2023 season, they were invited to perform and give master classes across the U.S., including venues in New York City and Boston, the states of Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, Colorado, Washington, California, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and their home base in Maine. They gave concerts in Mexico and premiered their four-hand arrangement of Chinese composer Shi Fu’s Tajik Drum Dance at the 44th International European Piano Teachers Association Conference in Portugal. They gave their New York City recital debut at Steinway Hall on April 1, 2023. Their upcoming recording projects include Music of the Americas, music written for and/or inspired by children, and a series of newly commissioned and rarely performed works for two pianos and one piano four hands.
DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI are frequent guest artists at universities and other institutions, such as Harvard University, Phillips Exeter Academy, Boston’s St. Botolph Club, University of Texas at Arlington, Lamar University, Tarleton University, Texas A&M-Commerce, Ohio State University, Capital University, University of Akron, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, University of Memphis, Osher Institute at the University of California-San Diego, and many others. They have an exciting 2023-2024 concert season with upcoming performance tours and residencies in New England, the Northwest, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, the Bay Area, and Mexico, and will complete their 2020 tour of China, which was interrupted by the pandemic, in June of 2024. They will be interviewed on the All Classical Portland radio show Thursdays @ 3 in Portland, Oregon this summer, where they will perform four-hand works, including works they have arranged from the two-piano repertoire.
As highly experienced pedagogues and conference presenters with over 50 years of combined teaching experience, DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI have developed workshops and lectures to audiences of all levels and will be giving a series of virtual and in person lecture-recitals for the Southeast Asia Piano Teachers Symposium, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand throughout their 2023-2024 concert season.
The Robert Beckwith Artist-in-Residence at Bowdoin College, GEORGE LOPEZ, pianist and conductor, has been a dynamic performer, sought-after pedagogue, and engaging lecturer for over 30 years. Known for his "...kaleidoscopic colors and clarity of conception..." (Los Angeles Times) in the standard repertoire as well as being a champion of newly written works, Mr. Lopez gave a highly acclaimed solo recital debut at the renowned Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and was lauded as “… authentic and memorable …” by the Nederlands Dagblad for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations along with all Twenty-Four Preludes of Chopin. He performed the complete sonatas of Mozart, all five Piano Concertos of Beethoven, the complete Etude-Tableaux of Rachmaninoff, all 27 Etudes and the Four Ballades of Chopin, and recently did the entire 4-volume set of Bach’sKlavierubungen, which he performed on organ, harpsichord, and piano.
Mr. Lopez performs worldwide as a soloist in major cities throughout Europe, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Central and South America. His extensive performances cover most major U.S. cities, including New York’s Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Paul Hall at the Juilliard School, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Ambassador Hall in Los Angeles, the Shao Lin Arts Center in Rockport, Massachusetts, The Cleveland Art Museum, Harvard University, and Tanglewood. After his performance at Lincoln Center, the composer Lowell Liebermann described the performance of his work as “… exciting and decisive!”
A featured soloist at many international music festivals throughout America, Europe, and other continents, Mr. Lopez performed at the renowned Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Girona Internacional Festival de Musica in Spain, the Kowmung Festival just outside Sydney, Australia, Festivale d’Internazionale Solisti e Musica da Camera in Umbria, Italy, and the Latin-American music festival Cubadisco in Havana, Cuba. He performed as guest soloist with the National Symphony of São Paolo in Brazil, Rose Hall in Osaka, Asahi Hall in Tokyo, and appeared as guest soloist and conductor with the New Hampshire Symphony in J. S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor. Mr. Lopez has been a regular guest artist with renowned chamber ensembles, including the Emerson, Carpe Diem, Rainier, Skyros, and Ying Quartets. He collaborates in recording and outreach projects with members of major symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, The Met Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and The New World Symphony. Mr. Lopez recorded Italian composer Romeo Melloni’s Piano Concerto No. 1 dedicated to him with the acclaimed Prague Chamber Orchestra in the former Czech Republic and recently premiered a new Piano Concerto by the Indo-American composer Dr. Vineet Shende. Mr. Lopez has given radio performances and interviews on Cuban Salon music, the Music of Sherlock Holmes, and all 27 Etudes of Chopin. His interdisciplinary and multi-cultural “Music in the Museum” series at Bowdoin College consistently sells out to audiences who enjoy his creative and engaging lecture-recitals on the relationship of music, art, and its cultural history.
Mr. Lopez is an acclaimed public speaker at regional, national, and international conferences throughout the United States and Europe, including the MTNA, NCKP, and EPTA conferences in recent years. He frequently gives masterclasses throughout North America, Latin America, and Europe at prestigious institutions, such as the Manhattan School in New York, Berkeley University, Boston University, the Faber Institute, the International Keyboard Odyssiad Festival, The Music Institute of Chicago, and Steinway Hall. Mr. Lopez received First Prize for the Diplome Superieure at the renowned Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris and the distinguished Uitvorend Musicus degree from the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. As the artistic director and conductor of the Bowdoin College Symphony Orchestra, he leads one of the most dynamic all-student symphonic programs in the New England region.
Internationally acclaimed Chinese-American pianist, GULIMINA MAHAMUTI is the first Uyghur from China to receive a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the United States. She enjoys an active career and performs extensively in major cities in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, Turkey, and China, with broadcasts on radio and state television. She performed in Budapest at the invitation of the Turkish Ambassador in Hungary, in Istanbul under the auspices of Turkish State Conservatory of Music, and in China, where she was named Honorary Guest Professor at Yili Normal University, College of Arts. Dr. Mahamuti performed at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, where she gave the the U.S. premiere performances of Chinese-American composer Chen Yi's Variations on “Awariguli” and Chinese composer Shi Fu’s Xinjiang Suite No. 2. Subsequently, she released her CD recording, Xinjiang Piano Music from Western China, featuring piano music of her native region in China. She performed piano concerti with the Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra, the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, and the Harbin Symphony Orchestra in China and was featured on San Francisco Turkish Radio, San Francisco Community Radio, and Queens College of CUNY online podcast in the U.S., Touch Radio in China, and Istanbul Technical University Radio in Turkey.
Dr. Mahamuti was published in major music journals, including People’s Music in China and Clavier Companion in the U.S. Her editorial work on the Chinese composer Shi Fu’s piano compositions was acknowledged by the distinguished Shanghai Music Publishing House (SMPH) in China. Her thesis on Shi Fu’s Three Xinjiang Piano Suites has become the main reference for Chinese and western music scholars. She presented at the National Conference of the Music Teachers National Association and was one of the Plenary Session panelists representing China on “A Conversation with Pedagogy Leaders from Around the World” at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago. Recently, she gave a lecture-recital at the 44th International European Piano Teachers Conference in Portugal and was one of the MTNA Webinar panelists. She was invited to present at the NCKP Webinar in January, 2024.
Dr. Mahamuti was born in Karamay City, Xinjiang, western China and because of her life experience as a touring concert pianist, she has been interviewed frequently by Chinese newspapers and China State Television. She was featured in a two-part series, “Conversations with Pianist Dr. Gulimina Mahamuti,” on Karamay City’s Public Television Network. Her life story was the subject of a documentary on the Gansu Province Public Television Network. Before moving to the beautiful state of Maine in May of 2018, she was an Assistant Professor of Music at Ohio Wesleyan University and previously taught at Capital University, and as Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University Missouri-Kansas City and Pittsburg State University. Dr. Mahamuti is the Immediate Past President of the MaineMTA and serves on MTNA’s National DEI Committee. She was nominated by MTNA as one of the two national candidates for the DEI Vice Presidency and will be chairing the 2024 MTNA National Conference’s Pedagogy Saturday DEI Track in Atlanta, GA.
