… A Summary of the Main Events of My Personal Life in 1o Short Chapters

1982-1985, Childhood in Bologna, Italy, Chapter I

• Begins piano lessons with Daniela Zanotti.
• Admitted to the G. B. Martini Conservatory of Bologna under Giuseppe Fricelli (with whom he will study for three years in Bologna and four additional years in Florence). In the first three years, while attending the middle school of the Bologna Conservatory, he managed to finish five years’ worth of course curriculum. After passing the 5th-year examination, Enrico is admitted to the 6th year of study.
• Performs at the Teatro Comunale of Bologna as well as the Sala Bossi.

1985-1990, Adolescence,

Florence, Italy (My Travels Begin…), Chapter II

• Admitted to the L. Cherubini Conservatory of Florence as a sixth-year student, he commutes by train following his teacher Giuseppe Fricelli who relocated to his hometown.
• Other performances in Tuscany soon follow.
• He passes the 8th-year examination at the Conservatory and will graduate two years later, earning a diploma in piano (summa cum laude).

 

1990-1991, Military Service, in Ascoli Piceno and Rome, Italy (a Setback in His Studies), Chapter III

• The Italian Army recruits him obligatorily for service.
• In his moments of spare time from army-related duties, he prepares for the Imola International Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro” audition mainly after service, at night, with a silent keyboard to conceal his practicing (which was not allowed).
• The first Gulf War happened just as he served in the Italian Army in Rome. As it turns out, he is not deployed.

1991-1996, New Beginnings and Maturity, Imola, Italy, Chapter IV

• Enters one of the world’s finest schools for pianists: the Imola International Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro.”
• Laureate of the Venice National Competition for best Italian graduates of all conservatories; performs at “La Fenice” historical Theatre.
• Works with renowned pianists Lazar Berman, Boris Petrushansky, Alexander Lonquich, and Franco Scala incessantly for five years but also plays for masterclasses of Jörg Demus, Joaquín Achúcarro, Rudolf Firkušný, Peter Lang, and Sergio Perticaroli.
• Performs recitals in Germany and crosses over the former Eastern Block nearly two years after the Berlin Wall had fallen. Continues to perform recitals in Padua, Crema, Cattolica, Bologna, Modena, Florence, Mantua, Cesena, Bonn, Germany, and Piestany, in the Slovak Republic.
• Wins several first in piano competitions: Ravenna, Genoa, Sestri Levante, Sasso Marconi, Pescara, Recanati, Bardolino. He gains a top prize in Portugal at the Oporto International Competition (World Federation of International Competitions) and is featured on national TV with the Orchestra Classica de Porto.
• In 1996 he graduated from the Imola International Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro.” 

 

1996-2004, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Chapter V

Enrico Elisi with his teacher and mentor Leon Fleisher in 2000 while sight-reading Brahms’ second symphony for pleasure and being filmed for a documentary entitled LEON FLEISHER, LES LECONS D’UN MAITRE by Mark Kidel. (Grand Prix au Festival Classique en Image du Musée du Louvre – 2002 Grand Prix Musique au Festival de l’Unesco – 2002)

• Leon Fleisher awards him a full scholarship and invites him to study at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University.
• Selected to participate in the prestigious Taos Chamber Festival (New Mexico, USA, 1997), where he performs four chamber recitals.
• Performs the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Florence Symphony Orchestra and several different concertos with various orchestras in the USA. Other solo and chamber performances in China, Taiwan, Canada, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and the USA were followed by radio broadcasts.
• Begins performing extensively as a soloist and with chamber music partners all over the USA and accepts a few pre-college teaching positions in the Washington/Baltimore area.
• Graduates with a Master’s Degree from the Peabody Conservatory (1999).
• First of several subsequent performances at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall (2001).

 

2004-2008, Nevada, USA, a New Life in the West, Chapter VI

• Moves to Las Vegas, having been offered an Assistant Professorship of Piano at the University of Nevada; he will remain in Nevada for four years.
• Directs the Las Vegas Music Festival’s Piano Institute (summer program) and co-chairs the UNLV Artist in Residence Program.
• Creates the Las Vegas Piano Club.
• Continues concertizing as a soloist with orchestras and with the Cerberus and Sialia Trios 
• Adjudicates the Iowa Competition in the USA, and the Stepping Stone Competition as well as the finals of the Canadian Music Competition in Rimouski (Quebec, Canada).
• Appears at the World Piano Pedagogy Conference in a joint recital with his mentor Leon Fleisher.
• Accepts an invitation to teach at regular intervals at the China Zhejiang Art School in Hangzhou, China.
• Co-founds the Green Valley Chamber Music Festival
• Graduates with a Doctoral Degree from the Peabody Conservatory (2006).

 

2008-2011, Pennsylvania, USA,  Moving Back East, Chapter VII

• Accepts a position as an Assistant Professor of Piano at one of the top ten US State institutions, the Pennsylvania State University, where he begins student projects on various themes. This pedagogical idea will continue in the future.
• Marries Korean composer Kye Ryung Park (2010) and continues his musical collaborations with her, including the founding of the Arioso Musica Domani Prize for composers, well-known composers such as Paul Chihara, Steven Stucky, Richard Danielpour, Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann, Ricardo Zhon-Muldon, and Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez on the board of directors.
• Creates SummerItalia, a series of masterclasses and performance opportunities in Umbria, Italy.
• Establishes the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Liszt Society; becomes a life member of that organization, and performs during the bicentennial celebration of Liszt at the ALS festival in Athens, GA, USA.

 

2011-2016, Northbound to Eastman, Chapter VIII

• Accepts a five-year position as an Associate Professor of Piano at the Eastman School of Music, where he will perform several solo recitals, as well as chamber recitals with violinists Federico Agostini and Charles Castleman and other faculty members.
• Spearheads an ambitious student project dedicated to C. P. E. Bach during the 300th Anniversary of his Birth. Connects multiple departments at Eastman turning the event into a five-day unique celebratory festival.
• Performs at the National Gallery and the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC,
• Founds the Seoul Master Class in South Korea (renamed Seoul Piano Workshop in 2014)
• Presides the jury of the historical Nuova Coppa Pianisti in Osimo, Italy, and will return as an adjudicator in subsequent years.

 

2016-2023 Further North – Canada, Chapter IX

• The University of Toronto selected him for an Associate Professor of Piano position, so he moved to Toronto, Canada, in the late summer of 2016.
• Invited by Steinway & Sons to be on its roster as a Steinway Artist (2017)
• Is honored with the University of Toronto Teaching Award (2022)

• Performed, taught, lectured, and adjudicated worldwide (Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Turkey, China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macao, Canada, and the USA.
• Selected as an Artist in Residence by the Yellowbarn Festival, VT, USA
• Is presently finalizing a CD that includes J. S. Bach selected Partitas and Preludes

2023-Present, Back to the USA,

Chapter X

Enrico Elisi assumed the endowed position of Harold D. and Imogene Herndon Professor of Music in Piano, at Texas Christian University. He will look forward to joining TCU’s vibrant academic community and he will contribute to the university’s ongoing efforts to advance the piano department.