To begin the Third International Stretto Piano Festival, festival advisor and Stretto piano advocate Carol Leone performs a short introductory program of 19th century Romances and Etudes that exemplifies the Romantic period's trend toward heroic virtuosity and the expression of love and yearning.
Program:
Three Romances by
Robert Schumann
Clara Wieck Schumann
Johannes Brahms
Two Etudes by
Frederic Chopin
Carol performs on a Steinway D with DS Keyboard 5.5 at the Meadows School of the Arts, SMU, in Dallas, TX, USA.
BIO
American pianist Carol Leone is active as a soloist and chamber musician, appearing throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. A successful recording artist, Leone can be heard on MSR Classics, Gasparo, Crystal, and Augusta Read Thomas labels. Her recording, “Change of Keys” on MSR Classics garnered two 2016 Silver Global Awards. Leone has been a top prize-winner in piano competitions, including the National Beethoven Sonata Piano competition. She has performed regularly with the Grammy-nominated contemporary music ensemble Voices of Change.
Considered one of the world’s leading advocates and presenters for alternatively-sized piano keyboards, Dr. Leone has energized a worldwide movement to transform pianists’ artistry and wellness. Invited to conferences around the world, she passionately reminds audiences of the innate wholeness of any pianist and the new keyboard paradigm for elevating their music making.
Leone’s professional training included study with legendary Polish pianist Mieczysław Horszowski at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she received a performance certificate. She was a private student of Guido Agosti in Rome following a summer at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, where she earned the coveted Honors Diploma. She received her doctorate from the UNT College of Music.
Carol Leone is Chair of Piano Studies and Professor of Piano at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, Texas. At SMU, she performs regularly as concerto soloist with the Meadows Symphony Orchestra and as part of a faculty piano trio with violinist Aaron Boyd and cellist Andres Diaz. Leone is also on the piano faculty of the Siena International Music Programs at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy, is co-director of the International Stretto Piano Festival and co-founder of PASK (Pianists for Alternatively Sized Piano Keyboards).