Pianist Pallavi Mahidhara Tours India

Praised for her unique artistry, mature musical insight, and charismatic stage presence, Indian-American pianist Pallavi Mahidhara has appeared in solo and orchestral concerts across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, performing at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Chicago Symphony Center in Chicago, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Spain, Teatro del Lago in Frutillar, Chile, Casa de la Música in Quito, Ecuador, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, India, National Concert Hall in Beijing, China, City Hall in Cape Town, South Africa, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Grand Hall of the Dimitri Shostakovich Philharmonia in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Ms. Mahidhara is the Second Prize winner of the 2014 Geneva International Piano Competition, as well as the Young Audience Award. She won Second Prize at the VI International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. In September 2008, on a few hours’ notice, she stepped in for Van Cliburn at the Liberty Medal Award ceremony, honoring former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Also in 2008, she was awarded Fourth Prize, the Audience Award, and the Prize for “Best Romantic Concerto” at the UNISA International Piano Competition. She has been featured on “Piano Grand,” a celebration of the Piano’s 300th birthday, hosted by Billy Joel and produced by the Smithsonian Institution and the Maryland Public Television. Ms. Mahidhara was awarded the “Most Promising Young Pianist” at the prestigious Verbier Academy in Switzerland, and received a $25,000 Davidson Fellowship at the age of 15 for her extraordinary achievements in the field of music.

Ms. Mahidhara made her orchestral debut at the age of 10, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Disney’s Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. Her first appearance with a major orchestra was at the age of 14 with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. Since then, her orchestral appearances have included with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Concert Orchestra, Banff Festival Orchestra in Canada, China National Symphony Orchestra and Tianjin Symphony Orchestra in China, Asturias National Orchestra in Spain, National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador in Quito, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Switzerland, and the Saint Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in Russia. Upcoming concerts include return engagements in South Africa, India, Europe, and the United States.

Ms. Mahidhara’s musical interests cover an extensive range, from standard Classical works, to music of contemporary and living composers, to fusion and crossover projects. In April 2011, she joined drummer Questlove of “The Roots” and international singer/songwriter Keren Ann for a genre-defying concert, fusing the classical world with hiphop, jazz, and folkpop artists, at the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. She has collaborated with the multi- Grammy Award-winning ensemble, “eighth blackbird”, with performances of Steve Reich’s Double Sextet. In November 2008, she gave several performances of Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques with the Curtis 20/21 Contemporary Ensemble, including at the French Embassy in Washington, DC. In 2004, she premiered a large piano work by one of India’s leading film composers, Vanraj Bhatia. This work, titled Fantasia and Fugue in C, is based on the Indian epic, The Mahabharata. Last year, she was invited to work with renowned Indian Classical violinist Dr. L Subramaniam at his annual workshop in Bangalore. Extremely proud of her Indian heritage, Ms. Mahidhara is passionate about bridging the gap between the Eastern and Western classical music worlds, and actively pursues new possibilities and ideas to collaborate with other Indian artists of all genres.

Ms. Mahidhara has been a participant for three summers at the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, USA, headed by Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida. Other music festivals include the Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander (Spain), Pablo Casals Festival (Prades, France), International Musician’s Seminar at Prussia Cove (England), the Verbier Academy (Switzerland), the Aspen Music Festival (US), and the Banff Festival (Canada). She has performed twice at the Sangat Chamber Music Festival in Mumbai, India, collaborating with musicians from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the London Philharmonic, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.

Ms. Mahidhara studied at the Escuela Superior de Música REINA SOFÍA under the tutelage of Dimitri Bashkirov, and is currently completing her Masters Degree at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler with Eldar Nebolsin. At the end of the 2012 and 2013 academic years, she and her piano quartet, respectively, received from the hands of Queen Sofía of Spain, the “Sobresaliente” Award, for Outstanding work and Excellence. She graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2010 with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance, as a pupil of Ignat Solzhenitsyn. She has received invaluable lessons and masterclasses from great masters such as Richard Goode, Mitsuko Uchida, Pascal Rogé, Ferenc Rados, Leon Fleisher, Fou T’song, Menahem Pressler, and Naum Grubert.