Enrico Elisi

Enrico Elisi (born April 22, 1972) is an Italian pianist. He has performed in Europe, America, and Asia. Recent engagements include recitals at the National University of the Arts, (Taipei, Taiwan), the Red Star Theater, (Hangzhou, China), the University of Texas, (Austin), and the New Millennium International Piano Festival (Asturias, Spain).

An active chamber musician, Enrico Elisi has collaborated with many renowned artists including Baltimore Symphony concertmaster Jonathan Carney, and Chicago Symphony associate concertmaster David Taylor. He is currently a member of the Cerberus and Sialia Trios. He has also performed at the Taos Chamber Music Festival and at the Ravinia Festival. His most recognized chamber collaboration has been with violinist Qian Zhou, a Long-Thibaud competition winner and Naxos recording artist, with whom he toured China.

Mr. Elisi's repertoire extends from Bach to avant-garde music and includes less frequently performed works by composers such as Theodor Kirchner, Clara Wieck-Schumann, and Gioachino Rossini to cite a few. He enjoys working with composers and has premiered contemporary works dedicated to him at debut recitals in Toulouse, France, and Carnegie Recital Hall in New York. In fall 2006, Mr. Elisi premiered new compositions at the 4th International Festival of Contemporary Music, in Lima, Peru.

In Italy, the press lauded Mr. Elisi as "young in years but with a wonderfully rich musicality, a solidly grounded technique, a precise touch, and an enduring respect in his approach to the great masters." The prophetic words of this critic on Mr. Elisi's approach as a performer - a philosophy of humility and respect for the work and its composer - foresaw the development of a stylistic path that legendary pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher further nurtured. Mr. Fleisher recognized "an awareness of those elements that distinguish the great artist from the pedestrian performer," in the young pianist and invited him to study at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University on a full scholarship, where he served as his mentor's assistant during the Masters and Doctoral degrees. Mr. Elisi also holds two Italian degrees from the Conservatory of Florence and the International Piano Academy of Imola, where he studied with Lazar Berman, Alexander Lonquich and Boris Petrushansky.

Mr. Elisi is active as a teacher and has absorbed a great tradition that descends directly from Beethoven himself, handed down generationally through Carl Czerny, Theodor Leschititsky, Artur Schnabel, and Leon Fleisher. Mr. Elisi was invited to join the faculty of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2004. He also holds a guest professorship at the China Academy of Arts, in Hangzhou (China) where he is also an artistic adviser. Recent master classes paired with performances in the United States include Eastern Michigan University, St. Olaf College, University of Oregon, and the State University of New York. Internationally Mr. Elisi has recently given master classes and performed at the University of British Columbia in Canada, the Accademia delle Marche in Italy, the Women's College of Arts in Taiwan, and the National Conservatory of Lima, Peru. In 2005 Mr. Elisi directed the Piano Institute of the Las Vegas Music Festival. He later founded the Green Valley Chamber Music Festival of which he is artistic director, and created the Las Vegas Piano Club.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://enricoelisi.com] , Enrico Elisi's Official Website
* [http://www.greenvalleychambermusic.org] , Green Valley Chamber Music Festival - Enrico Elisi, Director
* [http://music.unlv.edu/faculty/elisi.shtml] , Enrico Elisi at UNLV
* [http://music.unlv.edu UNLV Music homepage] , UNLV Music Department Official Website
* [http://www.pianoclublasvegas.com] , Piano Club of Las Vegas Official Website

* " [http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/ The Rebel Yell] ", student newspaper
* [http://www.library.unlv.edu/ UNLV libraries]
* [http://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/ UNLV Special Collections]