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Artist Profile
General | | Biography: | In this age of exceptional young pianists, Cristina Altamura is distinguished by a style which is at once “brilliant, powerful and poetic.” Her predisposition for elegant phrasing, exquisite poetry and air of refinement is said to have brought a “new generation of pianism to the concert hall in playing of great honesty”. The young artist’s New York debut took place in December of 2003 at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in an unusual program of two piano concertos, Mozart’s K.488 and Beethoven’s 1st. That concert was immediately followed by a tour that started in Italy and ended in Havana, Cuba. There, she was presented in concert at the Basilica of St. Frances, a venue reserved only for prestigious visiting guest artists. Her highly successful program, which included many of Gershwin’s Songs and Preludes, was broadcast on Havana Radio.
Ms. Altamura has held the unique position as Principal Soloist of the State Philharmonic of Bacau , Romania. This appointment followed her successful 1998 performance of Beethoven's First Piano Concerto with the Bucharest Philharmonic. A subsequent debut of this concerto in Italy at the Teatro Comunale in Imola garnered rave reviews for the young pianist. She recorded the concerto with the Iasi Camerata, Romania, conducted by the London-born Karel Mark Chichon. Further collaborations with the young conductor included a special appearance at the 20th Anniversary Season of the Beethoven Festival in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. Ms. Altamura’s close association with Romania has resulted in performances and recordings with all of the major Romanian orchestras in piano concertos by Grieg, Schumann, Mozart, Gershwin, and, most recently, Rachmaninov.
Ms. Altamura is a frequent guest on New York's foremost classical radio station, WQXR. In 1997, after earning distinction as the only American musician awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Italy that year, Ms. Altamura's winning, uncut audition tape was broadcast on the McGraw Hill Young Artists Showcase, hosted by Bob Sherman. That same year, she received a scholarship from the National Italian American Foundation in Washington, DC. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Altamura was presented once again as an alumna of the show in a live performance from Milan, Italy at the Teatro Delle Erbe. Further live radio broadcasts followed on the Dame Myra Hess radio series in Chicago. She returned to the McGraw Hill Young Artist Showcase in a live performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto.
At age 19, the young pianist made her Carnegie Hall debut performing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Inter-Cities Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Gisele Ben- Dor. Ms. Altamura has also appeared as a solo and chamber artist in New York's major halls including Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall, CAMI Hall and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. In addition, she has performed in England, Gibraltar, Italy and Israel.
As a teen, Ms. Altamura participated at both the Tanglewood and Aspen Summer Music Festivals. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Mannes College of Music. On the recommendation of Marcello Abbado, she undertook advanced studies with the eminent Maestro Franco Scala, founder of the Accademia Pianistica in Imola, Italy, and later with Professor Robert Abramson of the Juilliard School.
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