 | This biographical article is written like a résumé .(December 2022) |
Alexandra Dariescu | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 August 1985 Iași, Romania |
| Occupation | Pianist |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Website | Official site |
Alexandra Ioana Dariescu (born 16 August 1985) is a Romanian British classical concert pianist, educator, mentor and producer. She is best known for her multimedia project The Nutcracker and I [1] and her focus on promoting the works of female composers. [2]
Dariescu was born in Iași, Romania, in 1985 where she started studying the piano at the age of 7 with Cornelia Apostol and Mihaela Constantin. [3] [4] [5] Her concerto debut was at the age of 9 with the Moldova Philharmonic Orchestra. [6]
At the age of 17, Dariescu won the Constantin Silvestri scholarship which led her to move to the UK to study at Pocklington School. [7] In 2014, she was awarded the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) scholarship for her undergraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. [8] Dariescu made her UK debut at the Bridgewater Hall in 2006, where she performed Mozart Piano Concerto No. 15 with André de Ridder and the RNCM Chamber Orchestra live on BBC Radio 3. [9] She studied under Mark Ray, Nelson Goerner, Alexander Melnikov and Dina Parakhina, graduating in 2008 with 1st class Hons and the Gold Medal. [10] Dariescu has been an RNCM's Honorary Associate Artist since 2016 [11] and their Associated Member since 2020. [12]
In 2008, Dariescu won the Young Concert Artist Trust competition (YCAT). [13] In the same year, Dariescu started her Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Ronan O’Hora [14] and became the first pianist on the YCAT/ Royal Philharmonic Society Philip Langridge Mentoring Scheme, mentored by Dame Imogen Cooper. While at the GSMD, Dariescu won the Guildhall Wigmore Prize [15] and graduated with Distinction [16] and a Fellowship. [15] She went back to study at the GSMD in 2016 for a one year course in Creative Entrepreneurship. [17]
Since 2012, Dariescu attended several times the Verbier Festival Academy, [18] studying with Dmitri Bashkirov, [19] Menahem Pressler, [20] Gábor Takács-Nagy [21] and was awarded the Verbier Festival CUBS Award. [22] Dariescu studied with Dominique Merlet at the Academy de Villecroze, [23] Philippe Cassard at the Tibor Varga Academy in Sion, [20] Sir András Schiff in New York, London and Gstaad and Boris Berman at the Holland Music Sessions. [20]
Dariescu has played with orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the European Union Youth Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra. [6] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
2012 Carnegie Hall recital debut. [30]
2013 First female Romanian pianist to perform at the Royal Albert Hall [31] with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Vasily Petrenko with Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2. [32]
2015 Debut at the Concertgebouw, [33] followed by debut in Poland with the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra and Ewa Strusinska. [34]
2016 Japan debut at the Musashino Hall. [35] Debut with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and John Storgårds in Norway, performing the Norwegian premiere of Alberto Ginastera's Concierto Argentino. [36]
2017 Debut at the Musikverein performing Dinu Lipatti’s Concertino and Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra and Gabriel Bebeselea. [37] The same year, debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall (Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2); [38] National Radio Orchestra of Romania and Cristian Măcelaru; [39] Zuger Sinfonietta and Daniel Huppert (Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27) [40] and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and Michael Francis (Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini). [41] December 2017, premiere of own production of The Nutcracker and I for piano, ballerina and digital animations. [42]
2018 USA, Canada and China tour: Debuts with the Utah Symphony Orchestra and Kazuki Yamada (Grieg's Piano Concerto), [43] Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and Marzena Diakun (Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1) [44] and Sichuan Symphony Orchestra under Darrell Ang (Tchaikovsky's No. 1). [45] The same year, first performance with Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu at the Vienna State Opera. [46]
2019 Debuts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and James Gaffigan (Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie at the Barbican Hall, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3); [47] Orchestre National de France and Ion Marin (Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major); [48] UK tour with the Moscow Philharmonic and Yuri Simonov (Rachmaninov's No. 2 and Tchaikovsky's No. 1); [49] Tonkünstler Orchestra and Ruth Reinhardt (Ferdinand Ries' Piano Concerto No. 3). [50] The Nutcracker and I performances at the Verbier Festival. [51]
2020 Before the pandemic, debuts with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Jun Märkl (Ravel's G major); [52] Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Alexander Shelley (Grieg's Piano Concerto); [53] Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Giordano Bellicampi (Tchaikovsky's No. 1); [54] Berlin State Opera recital with Angela Gheorghiu. [55] Norwegian Nadia Boulanger premiere with the Oslo Philharmonic and Fabien Gabel. [56] Premiere of The Nutcracker - Reimagined with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, a new production for piano, narrator, brass and dancers. [57]
The Nutcracker and I is a multimedia performance for piano solo with dance and digital animation which Dariescu created and produced out of her "responsibility as a young artist to reach out to as many people as possible and to build bridges for those new to classical music". [58] The Nutcracker and I premiered at Barbican’s Milton Court in December 2017 [59] and went on tour across Europe, Australia, China, the Emirates and the US with more than 75 performances in venues such as the Vienna Konzerthaus, [60] Laeiszhalle Hamburg, [61] Philharmonie Luxembourg, [62] Auditorium Lyon, [63] Verbier Festival, [51] Konserthuset Gothenburg, [64] King’s Place London, [65] Melbourne Recital Hall, [66] Sydney City Recital Hall, [67] Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, [68] Shanghai Grand Theatre, [69] Dubai Opera House [70] and Las Vegas Summerlin Library. The Nutcracker and I reached more than 70,000 people worldwide through the live performances [71] and the 2018 released audio book of the same name, narrated by former BBC Blue Peter presenter and BAFTA winner, Lindsey Russell. [72] In 2019, The Nutcracker and I was shortlisted for the German Opus Klassik Awards in the youth development category, [73] alongside nine nominees including projects by Daniel Barenboim, Lang Lang and Anne-Sophie Mutter. [74]
Dariescu is a mentor and teacher, having given masterclasses and lessons in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, Japan, China, South Africa and Canada [71]
She regularly speaks at conferences and sits on juries and panels:
2021: Awarded with the Order “Cultural Merit” in the rank of Knight from the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis [75]
2021: Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance: Jury member Alfred Kitchin Competition [76] and Concerto Competition [77]
2021: Royal Over-Seas League: Jury member Annual Music Competition [78]
2020—present: Beyond Borders (sessions on leadership, collaboration and orchestras’ relevance to society, through the eyes of a conductor) [79]
2019: University of Liverpool: Speaker - Women in Music [80]
2018—present: Friends of Europe - Young European Leader, Arts and Culture (Working Group Member) [81]
2018: Classical:NEXT Conference in Rotterdam (Netherlands): Speaker [82]
2018: GSMD's Reflective Conservatoire Conference: Speaker Artists as citizens - Role of musicians in today’s world and how to incorporate multimedia in performances [83]
2018: Received the “Officer of the Romanian Crown” from the Romanian Royal Family [75]
2017: Music in Lyddington: Patron [84]
2017: Royal Northern College of Music: Jury member Concerto Competition Finals
2016: Transylvania Festival: Director of Music and Board Member [85]
2016: Young Concert Artists Trust: Speaker - Building networks in classical music [86]
2016—present: Royal Northern College of Music: Honorary Associate Artist [11]
2014—present: Margareta of Romania Royal Foundation: Foundation Ambassador [87]
2019 Plaisir d'Amour. Angela Gheorghiu & Alexandra Dariescu. Decca Classics [88]
2019 Complete Preludes, Vol. 3 Boulanger, Fauré & Messiaen. Champs Hill Records [89]
2018 The Nutcracker and I, by Alexandra Dariescu audiobook. Signum Classics [90]
2016 Emily Howard Mesmerism for piano & orchestra / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. NMC Records [91]
2016 Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 / Nutcracker Suite with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Signum Classics [92]
2015 Complete Preludes, Vol. 2 Shostakovich & Szymanowski. Champs Hill Records [93]
2013 Complete Preludes, Vol. 1 Chopin & Dutilleux. Champs Hill Records [94]
2012 Chopin, Schumann and Liszt. Champs Hill Records [95]
John Richard Lill is a British classical pianist.
Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality.
John O'Conor is an Irish pianist and pedagogue, and former director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
Howard Gordon Shelley is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. He was married to fellow pianist Hilary Macnamara till her death in 2021, with whom he performed and recorded in a two-piano partnership, and they have two sons.
Ronald Turini is a world renowned Canadian classical pianist. He is the first Canadian artist to win prizes at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition and the Geneva International Music Competition, both in 1958, and the 1960 Queen Elisabeth Competition, where he was acclaimed by juror Emil Gilels. He was an acknowledged student of Vladimir Horowitz, and was known to be Horowitz' personally most highly regarded student.
Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi is a world renowned Japanese cellist. In an international career which began in 1954, Tsutsumi has performed and recorded all of the principal standard works in the cello repertoire, both solo and concerto. He has appeared as soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C..
Vasily Eduardovich Petrenko is a Russian-British conductor. He is currently music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Gülsin Onay is a leading Turkish concert pianist of German descent, based in Cambridge, England.
Andreas Boyde is a German pianist.
Aleksandar Madžar is a Serbian pianist.
Eduard Kunz, is a Russian pianist. He reached the 2nd round in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011.
Yuja Wang is a Chinese pianist. Born in Beijing, she began learning piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
Behzod Abduraimov is an Uzbek pianist. A former student of Van Cliburn International Piano Competition gold medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University's International Center for Music (ICM), he was described by The Independent as "the most perfectly accomplished pianist of his generation". Abduraimov won the London International Piano Competition in 2009 at the age of 18, which launched his career. He continues to perform internationally in solo recitals, chamber music performances, and as soloist with leading orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Sydney Symphony Orchestra under such conductors as Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Vasily Petrenko, James Gaffigan, Jakub Hrůša, Thomas Dausgaard and Vladimir Jurowski.
Daniil Olegovich Trifonov is a Russian pianist and composer. Described by The Globe and Mail as "arguably today's leading classical virtuoso" and by The Times as "without question the most astounding pianist of our age", Trifonov's honors include a Grammy Award win in 2018 and the Gramophone Classical Music Awards' Artist of the Year Award in 2016. The New York Times has noted that "few artists have burst onto the classical music scene in recent years with the incandescence" of Trifonov. He has performed as soloist with such orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony and the Munich Philharmonic, and has given solo recitals in such venues as Royal Festival Hall, Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Berliner Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Concertgebouw, and the Seoul Arts Center.
Anna Borysivna Fedorova is a Ukrainian concert pianist. Fedorova performs as soloist, chamber musician and with symphony orchestras in the major concert halls of the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Ukraine, Poland, the US, Mexico, Argentina, and parts of Asia. Fedorova is a David Young Piano Prize Holder supported by a Soiree d'Or Award and Keyboard Trust.
Alexander Walker is a British conductor.
Seong-Jin Cho is a concert pianist who won multiple international prizes including the 2015 edition of International Chopin Piano Competition, the 2014 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition, 14th Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011, 12th Hamamatsu Competition in 2009 and 6th Moscow International F. Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in 2008. Described as a “poet on the keyboard” by Sir Simon Rattle, Cho is renowned for his delicate touch, refined texturing of melodic lines, defined rhythm and groove, and sensible balance in bass and treble.
Nikolay Khozyainov is a Russian classical pianist and composer. He is noted for what music critic Anthony Tommasini describes as "stunning virtuosity".
Jean-Bernard Pommier, is a French pianist and conductor.
Bruce Liu is a Canadian pianist. Born in Paris and raised in Montreal, he began to play the piano at eight years old and was performing by the age of eleven. In 2021, he rose to widespread renown after winning the XVIII International Chopin Piano Competition.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
