Julia Siciliano / "A (Fictional) Conversation Between Beethoven and Schubert"

A narrated piano recital, this program depicts Julia Siciliano’s imagined conversation between Beethoven and Schubert, had they ever met in person. Repertoire includes:

Franz Schubert

Impromptu Op.142 No.2

Ludwig van Beethoven

Sonata Op.26

Franz Schubert

Sonata D.960

This program is sponsored by the Brushwood Center.

If you are a veteran, active duty member, or member of the military community and you'd like to request a sponsored ticket, please email Rachel Frazier at rachel@pianofortechicago.com.

Biography:

Award-winning concert pianist, Julia Siciliano has been heralded as a musician with “fabulous creative power” by the Bonn General-Anzeiger. Ms. Siciliano has become a well- respected and anticipated rising talent on the world stage, being invited as a solo artist by many prestigious orchestras, and festivals, most recently with the Orquestra Sinfónica de la Region de Murcia for the MurciArt Music Festival. A winner of many local and international piano competitions, Julia has won top prizes at the Sicily International Piano Competition, Heida Hermanns International Competition, Iowa Piano Competition, and MTNA National Competition. A highly active chamber musician, Julia has been invited to perform on concert series and festivals with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players, the Euskadiko Orchestra’s “Miramon Matinees”, Donostia Musika series at Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián, Spain, and the La Verdi chamber music series in Teatro Gerolamo di Milano. She has given recitals with Metropolitan Opera stars Amanda Pabyan, Eric Owens, and Marina Domashenko, and internationally acclaimed instrumentalists Hayoung Choi, Simone Lamsma, and Alexei Ogrintchouk. Most notably, Julia performed the complete “accompanied sonatas” of Beethoven in the year 2020 at the Teatro Victoria Eugenia in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, and in various venues throughout the United States, France, and Sweden.

Julia has an active performing career in both solo and chamber music capacities across stages in North America, Central America, Europe and Asia. She has performed multiple times live on Chicago radio station WFMT, Detroit’s historic Scarab Club, Cincinnati Music Hall, the Bulgarian Consulate in New York City, Teatro Nacional of Gautemala, MalmöLive in Malmö, Sweden, Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián, Spain, Palazzo Biscari in Catania, Italy, Teatro Gerolamo in Milan, Italy, Parvis de l’église Notre-Dame d’Espérance in Cannes, Deutsche Telekom Headquarters in Bonn, Clairmont Hall in Tel Aviv, Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow, and Kioi Hall in Tokyo.

Her debut solo album "Dream Catchers”, a two disc album featuring small scale works by Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Ravel and Debussy, released in 2016 to great acclaim. Fanfare Magazine declared “this release has merit as a career milestone” and leaves “no doubt about the devotion and seriousness of Siciliano’s approach to music.” Gramophone Magazine praised her "fine technique and natural musicality” pinpointing her "masterful delicacy, harmonic motion, and timing" in Debussy’s Images II.

Siciliano holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Nelita True, and the University of Michigan, where she studied with Logan Skelton.