CRISTIANA PEGORARO

In the world of classical pianists, critics have hailed Cristiana Pegoraro as among the best interpreters of Cuban and South American music. Ms. Pegoraro has consistently inspired audiences through her original programming, mastery of phrasing and expressive artistry. Having graduated with high honors from Conservatory of Terni, Italy at a mere 16 years of age, she has gone on to perform in some of the greatest concert venues in the world, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The United Nations (New York), the Sydney Opera House, Bosendorfer Saal (Vienna), Teatro Municipal (San Paulo and Rio de Janiero) and Santa Cecilia Auditorium (Rome). She even played a private concert for the President of Italy, Mr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, in 2003.

Ms. Pegoraro is frequently featured on radio and television around the world on stations, including the BBC (Scotland), RAI (Italy) and Nine Network (Australia). She has 15 highly acclaimed CD recordings to her credit, two of which showcase her original compositions. Ever expanding her musical horizons, Cristiana Pegoraro is a multi-faceted artist who expresses the unmitigated passion and beauty of life through music.

“Cristiana Pegoraro plays not only with brilliance, but with a most engaging finesse.”
-- Gramophone Magazine

“… an artist of the highest caliber…”
--The New York Times

CRISTIANA PEGORARO - Pianist

Acclaimed as one of the most gifted musicians of her generation, Italian-born pianist, Cristiana Pegoraro, has consistently entertained and enlightened audiences with her inspired performances and original programming.

Her numerous awards and prizes include the Città di Senigallia, Città di Marsala, Domenico Scarlatti (Naples) and Artists International Special Presentation Debut Award (New York). In Prague, she won the 1989 Best of the Year for Classical Music Award "for her great personality, strong musical temperament, mastery of phrasing and expressive artistry." The New York Times called her "an artist of the highest caliber," following her stunning 1996 debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

Ms. Pegoraro has performed in some of the greatest concert halls in Europe, United States, South America and Australia, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations and the Guggenheim Museum (New York); the Sydney Opera House; Grosses Saal, Festspielhaus (Salzburg); Bösendorfer Saal (Vienna); Centro Cultural de Belem (Lisbon); Santa Cecilia Auditorium (Rome), Serate Musicali (Milan); Theatro Municipal (São Paulo); Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro), and the Opera House (Manaus). She also has performed at the S. Petersburg Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, and the Klavierfestival Ruhr – Germany, among others.

On November 15, 2003, she played for the President of Italy, Mr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Later that same month, on the occasion of the Italian Presidency of the European Council, she performed for the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Mr. Julian Hunte, in her eighth (soldout) concert at Lincoln Center.

Hailed by the critics as among the best interpreters of Cuban and South American music, Ms. Pegoraro has premiered to European audiences the works of Latin-American composers such as Astor Piazzolla, Joaquin Nin and Ernesto Lecuona. Recently, she also has arranged for solo piano some of their great works, including the best tangos of Astor Piazzolla and a Fantasy on Cuban Dances by Ernesto Lecuona.

She has been a featured artist on radio and television, on WQXR New York (USA), RAI, Mediaset (Italy), the BBC (Scotland), ARD (Germany), RTP (Portugal), and Nine Network (Australia). Her piano artistry can be heard on fifteen compact discs released by Decision Products, Dynamic, Nuova Era, and her own new DIVA label.

Gramophone Magazine heralded her second recording of Ernesto Lecuona's piano music on Dynamic Records with glowing praise. "Cristiana Pegoraro plays not only with brilliance, but with a most engaging finesse." Peter Burwasser of Fanfare Magazine has described her as a multi-faceted artist, who eagerly searches for passion and musical inspiration in her life and her performances.

Recently, Cristiana has taken up the challenge of composition, releasing two highly acclaimed albums, A Musical Journey and Ithaka.

Ms. Pegoraro graduated with highest honors from the Conservatory of Terni, Italy, at the age of sixteen. She continued her studies with Jörg Demus in Vienna and Hans Leygraf at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. She later studied with Nina Svetlanova at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

-- RaymondLutz - 15 Mar 2005