Musical artist
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]
Early life and education
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]
Professional career
Performances and repertoire
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 by Alexandra Dariescu for piano, ballerina & digital animation
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]
Mentoring and teaching
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]
Discography
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]
References
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^
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^
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International National Artists