One senses in pianist Martín García García a whimsical sort of genius, but genius nonetheless.

The ebullient young Spanish virtuoso chuckles often when interviewed but is transported when communing with his muse at the keyboard.

“I feel a sense of responsibility, a sense of duty and service to humanity,” he said. “At each event, no matter the size of the venue or the audience, there is something transcendent to offer to every person who has chosen to spend an hour or two of their life listening to me.

“Every time I play a piece that I have already studied — and for a long time — I discover new things. And once you have a piece within yourself, the difference is the audience.”

In praise of García’s performance of Rachmaninoff ’s Sonata in D minor, Frank Daykin of the New York Concert Review said: “The piano fairly thundered, without there ever once being an ugly tone, then melted to express the lyrical moments. The audience went justly wild.”

So will the audience at the Grand Piano Series’ first recital of the season Wednesday, Nov. 15, at St. Leo Auditorium in Bonita Springs.

While in the area, he will also conduct community programs in Lee and Collier county public schools, visiting Bonita Springs, Spring Creek, Calusa Park, and Golden Terrace elementary schools.

García began studying piano at the age of five with teachers Natalia Mazoun and Ilyà Goldfarb, and had garnered awards in numerous competitions by the time he turned 12. He graduated from Madrid’s Reina Sofía School of Music, where he studied for eight years under Galina Eguiazarova, whom he considered a “second mother.” He also holds a master’s degree in piano from the Mannes School of Music in New York, where he studied with renowned pianist Jerome Rose.

He began attracting international attention when he took first prize at the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition and bronze at the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw — the first Spaniard to reach the final in one of the most prestigious worldwide piano competitions.

It put his career in overdrive.

Since then, he’s barely paused to breathe, embarking on a whirlwind 70 performances worldwide in 2022, in such iconic venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid.

In 2022 he also produced and released his first album, “Chopin and His Master,” a compilation of all the repertoire he’d played to win the Cleveland and Chopin competitions, recorded at the Fazioli Concert Hall alongside the Fazioli piano factory in Sacile, Italy.

At 26, passport always at the ready, he’s considered one of the world’s most well-traveled pianists. In 2022 alone he boarded 200 flights and, when asked what superpower he’d choose, opted for the ability to adapt instantly to jet lag.

“It doesn’t look like a superpower, but it is!” he said with that signature chuckle.

This year alone, the world will see him perform 80 times, in Asia, North America and Europe. That’s a concert roughly every five days.

At times he sounds wistful about his life, but really wouldn’t have it any other way.

“For example,” he said in a 2023 interview, “right now I’m here in Guadalajara, but my time to look around is: zero. … There is no time for anything else.

“I want to really visit Japan, not just give a concert there. … to do something a little more normal, be a tourist, get the camera and say, ‘I’m here!’”

Perhaps he’ll do that for a moment or two in Southwest Florida. But his friend the piano and an audience always beckon. ¦

In the KNOW

GRAND PIANO SERIES: 

Martín García García: Music of Chopin and Liszt

· Wednesday, Nov. 15, 3 p.m.

· St. Leo Auditorium, 28290 Beaumont Road, Bonita Springs.

· Purchase single tickets at $45 ($50 at the door), or save $105 with a seven-concert discounted season package for $210, at grandpianoseries.org.

For assistance, call 469-333-3231.

ONLINE LECTURE: 

Magdalena Baczewska on Chopin & Liszt

· In a preconcert talk at 4 p.m. Nov. 9, Magdalena Baczewska (concert pianist and harpsichordist; Director of the Music Performance Program at Columbia University) returns to the Grand Piano Series to discuss the relationship between Chopin and Liszt and the unique musical worlds they created.

· The lecture will be held virtually via Zoom. Register for the event at grandpianoseries.org to get the Zoom link. For help registering, call 469-333-3231.