Lara Saldanha
Pianist
Bio
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.
Upcoming Performances
January 19 and 20th, 8 p.m.
DiMena Center, NYC
First performance playing in the Chelsea Symphony! Works by Gabriela Lena Frank, Florence Price, and premiere by Mike Boyman. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-chelsea-symphony-heritage-tickets-720843180357
March 2, 7 p.m.
Groupmuse in Midtown Manhattan
Ravel Piano Trio, Debussy Violin Sonata, and selected Poulenc songs. RSVP here https://www.groupmuse.com/events/13916-debussy-poulenc-ravel
April 7, 7:30 p.m.
Staller Recital Hall, Stony Brook University
In the Aftermath: Music of WW II
Performing Benjamin Britten's The Heart of the Matter. https://calendar.stonybrook.edu/site/music/event/michael-celentano-voice-dissertation-recital/
April 20, 7:30 p.m.
152 W. 66th St., NYC
Performing Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Collective 366! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kollective366-creatures-of-fire-tickets-771096328877
May 18, 7:30 p.m.
Staller Recital Hall, Stony Brook University
Performing Debussy Violin Sonata, Poulenc Violin Sonata, Ravel Tzigan and Chausson poeme with Sofiya Levchenko, violin.
May 22, 7:30 p.m.
Werner Recital Hall, College Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati
Opening concert of Cincinnati Song Initiative's Fellows. Program TBD.
May 25, 7:30 p.m.
Werner Recital Hall, College Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati
Closing concert of Cincinnati Song Initiative's Fellows. Program TBD.
Beethoven Sonata in C Major, op. 53 "Waldstein" mvt. I
Do not believe it, friend Rachmaninoff
Beethoven, Sonata no. 9 in A major op. 47, mvt. I
Press
An Advocate for Music Education
Lara Saldanha: Passionate About Using Music for Social Causes
Article by Luis Dias
Published in Navhing Times, January 2018
Republished on the author's blog
Music for a Cause
Love and the Pilgrimage to Petrarch
Coming Back to Her Roots
Pianists Shin, Saldanha Love Learning at BMC
Published in the Transylvania Times, August 2010
Teaching
Lara has been a devoted teacher since 2014. In 2015, she started her private studio in Seattle, Washington. Since moving to New York City in 2016, she has been a Teaching Fellow at both Mannes and Stony Brook University, been on the faculty at Keys to Success NYC, and currently has a thriving private studio of around 25 students.
Lara believes that music lessons can an invaluable contribution to the development of a young person. Her lessons firstly emphasize the larger life skills that can be taken from the practice of an instrument: love for the arts, good listening, time management, persistence, confidence, hard work, analytical thinking, problem-solving, and public presentation. She prioritizes building music literacy early on, so the student has agency over their own learning process. Even the youngest student will start to build skills in reading rhythm, notes, and expressive notation. She value regular public performance both because it builds structure and motivation into lessons, and it provides a platform for even the youngest learner to experience public “speaking.” Her goal is to instill a curiosity for music that the child will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Lara specializes in helping motivated pre-college students, who have a demonstrated interest in music and a commitment to regular practice and performance, to their full potential. Lara's students participate in monthly studio classes and in-person recitals, have taken nearly 50 RCM, play in ensembles, have taken part in competitions, and have been part of internationally renowned programs such as Luzerne Music Center and the Met Opera Children's Chorus.
For more information about private lessons, please see the studio policy document below.
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