French Pianist Performs Midwest Debut

Born in Cherbourg, France, in 1988, Lise de la Salle is both piano prodigy and proven artist. She released her first CD of Ravel and Rachmaninoff to superlative reviews when she was only 14; at 16, her recording of works by Bach and Liszt was selected as the Gramophone’s Recording of the Month.

Inspired and imaginative, de la Salle will perform her Midwest concert debut at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College. Bill Everett, University of Missouri-Kansas City musicologists, will present Artist Insights at 1 p.m. De La Salle’s program will be Mozart’s Sonata in D Major, Rondo in A minor and Twelve Variations on Ah vous dirai je maman (Twinkle, Twinkle); and Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 3 in A minor, six pieces from Romeo and Juliet, and Toccata, Op. 11.

In her young career, de la Salle has earned numerous prestigious awards, including first prize in the 2003 European Young Concert Artists Auditions in Paris and the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York, resulting in her New York and Washington, D.C., debuts in October 2004. At that time the Washington Times wrote, “Lise de la Salle seated herself demurely at the Steinway concert grand and proceeded to blow the roof off the auditorium.”

She made her Lincoln Center debut in April 2006, performing Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s conducted by Keith Lockhart. Other U.S. appearances have been Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1 with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (North Carolina) and the Liszt Concerto No. 1 with the Pasadena Symphony. De la Salle has toured Japan with the Aurvergne Orchestra and participated in prestigious European festivals. In her home country, she has appeared at the Festival du Haut Limousin and Roque d’Anthéron Festival.

The French pianist began studying the piano at the age of 4 and gave her first concert at 9 in a live broadcast on Radio-France. At 13, she made her concerto debut with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in Avignon and her Paris recital debut at the Louvre before going on tour with the French National Orchestra playing Haydn’s concerto in D major.

After receiving special permission to enter the Paris Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique at the age of 11, de la Salle graduated in 2001. In 2005 she completed the postgraduate course with Bruno Rigutto. 2007 will see the release of a new recording of de la Salle performing piano concertos by Liszt, Shostakovich and Prokofiev with the orchestra of the Gulbenkian Foundation.

Tickets to Lise de la Salle are $20, available by calling the Carlsen Center box office, 913-469-4445, or online at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter.