CRISTIANA PEGORARO, PIANIST and COMPOSER

RECIPIENT OF THE “2007 SEBETIA-TER PRESIDENT OF ITALY” AWARD

Cristiana Pegoraro embarks on the path of a classical pianist at an early age.

She devotes the years of her artistic development to perfecting her technique and developing her execution of the works of the great composers.  Meanwhile she earns recognition from the music world and consolidates her craft and expertise.

But her passion, personality and creativity push her beyond classical music.   Critics recognize her as one of the best interpreters of Latin American composers and one of the most interesting composers of the newer generations.

Cristiana Pegoraro graduates from the Conservatory of Terni, her birth city, at 16 with the highest grades and honors.
She continues her studies with Jörg Demus in Vienna and Hans Leygraf at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin.
Subsequently she perfects her art with Nina Svetlanova at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

Her skills display great technical and interpretive abilities, and she wins various international competitions.
In 1989 in Prague she wins the Best of the Year for Classical Music Award "for her natural talent, great personality, mastery of phrasing and expressive maturity."
The New York Times defines her as "an artist of the highest caliber" following her stunning 1996 debut at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

Cristiana performs consistently since childhood as a soloist and with orchestras for some of the most important organizations and concert halls in Europe, the US, South America, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Her tours in the Gulf Countries make her the first Italian female pianist to perform classical concerts in Bahrain, Yemen and Oman.
She plays for the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations and the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg.

In 2008 she is the only European representative at the Spring Festival at the United Nations in New York, and performs in the hall of the General Assembly.
That same year she debuts at the Musikverein in Vienna and at the 16th edition of Umbria Jazz with two sold out concerts.

Her TV and radio broadcasts include RAI, Mediaset, Radio Vaticana, Discoteca di Stato, BBC (Scotland), ARD (Germany), RTP (Portugal), WQXR New York (USA), Nine Network (Australia) and CBC (Japan).
She is a guest on the Italian TV shows:  “Porta a Porta” with Bruno Vespa (RAI 1), “Sottovoce” with Gigi Marzullo (RAI 1), “Vivere Meglio” with Fabrizio Trecca (Rete 4).

Her vast discography counts 22 CDs recorded for Decision Products, Nuova Era,  Dynamic and Diva.  It includes 3 albums with her original compositions: “A Musical Journey”, “Ithaka”, and “La mia Umbria”; numerous recordings of classical composers, new interpretations of Astor Piazzolla’s tangos, which Pegoraro arranges for solo piano, and performances of Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona.

Cristiana Pegoraro adds to her concert activity that of composer.
Among her compositions used for films and documentaries one should mention the soundtrack to the video “For whom the sirens toll” produced by the UN Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict and presented at the UN on September 11, 2004 in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack.

Cristiana regularly presents master classes at universities and colleges in the United States (Juilliard School – New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Oregon, Washington, South Dakota), as well as in Italy, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

She is the author of “Ithaka”, a book of poems, and a series of children’s books based on Italian operas.

She supports various international organizations such as UNICEF, Amnesty International, World Food Programme and Emergency in their humanitarian efforts.

In 2005 at her 10th concert at Lincoln Center, she receives the “World Peace Award” from the Circolo Culturale Italiano of the UN for her effort in advancing peace in the world.

In 2007, along with other important artists including Maestro Claudio Abbado, she receives the Sebetia Ter – President of Italy Award for her activity as a performer and composer.

She is Ambassador of the Right to Music and a supporter of the Umbrian tourist campaign throughout the world.

Currently, she is performing all 32 Sonatas for piano by Ludwig van Beethoven in Italy and Germany, the first female Italian pianist to do so.
It is an ambitious project of eight concerts which will see not only the execution of the pieces grouped according to Cristiana’s personal criteria, but also the establishment of an innovative and stimulating rapport with the audiences.

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