Lara Saldanha

Performer

May 30

Pianist Lara Saldanha has been praised for her versatility, fresh programming, and communicative gifts as both a performer and teacher. Lara is equally at home as a soloist and collaborator in the worlds of new music, standard repertoire, and historical performance. Lara did significant research and performances in all three areas during her doctoral work at Stony Brook University, which she completed in 2023.

Lara looks forward to appearances with Kollective366 in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and being part of Cincinnati Song Initiative’s inaugural class of fellows in 2024. 2023 included concerts at the Valley Cottage Young Masters Series, Music IC Festival in Iowa City, National Federation of Music Clubs conference in Norfolk, VA, and Icicle Creek Center for the Arts in Leavenworth, WA. Past performance highlights include playing Pierrot Lunaire in 2019 and soloing in Vijay Iyer’s Rites of Holi in 2018 with the Mannes American Composers Ensemble, soloing in Saint Saen’s Carnival of the Animals with the Texas Festival Orchestra in 2018, performing Joan Tower’s Black Topaz for the composer at the Round Top Festival Institute, and two concert tours of India in 2017-2018, among many others.

Lara is a committed music educator; she has been awarded Teaching Assistantships at both Stony Brook and Mannes and has a thriving studio of around 25 students in New York City. Lara is passionate about making concerts accessible to all, and frequently gives lecture-recitals at community centers, schools, and homes. She has been a frequent performer at Groupmuse house concerts since 2016 and DOROT since 2018. Lara’s teachers include Christina Dahl at Stony Brook (D.M.A.,) Vladimir Valjarevic at Mannes (P.D.P.L. and M.M.,) Alan Chow at Northwestern (B.M./B.A.,) Serguei Milstein at the Geneva Conservatory of Music in Switzerland, Inna Terekhov, and Neya Korsantia.

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