Historical
Piano Concerts Series
About
the Musicians
Amira Acre
A native of Montreal, Amira Acre
began her piano studies at age three. At four she had her first
professional engagement on radio, and at age five she won her first
piano competition. She studied with Abbey Simon at the Juilliard
School, in New York City, where she received her bachelor's and
master's degrees, and later returned to the US to earn her doctorate in
piano performance at Rutgers University in New Jersey. In Canada, she
taught and performed both solo and chamber music. In both nations her
concerts have been well received: "This is a pianist who adores the
instrument and who demands we listen to her ideas... a real talent and
a name to remember." (The Montreal Gazette) "Expertise and grace...
Deftly illuminating interpretations and quite exciting". (NY Times)
She
has received many scholarships and awards including three Canada
Council Grants, and Fellowships to Tanglewood, Fountainebleau, and
Banff. She was awarded full tuition scholarships at Juilliard from the
William Petschek Piano Fund, and has won scholarships from La Fondation
des Amies de l'Art. She received first prize at the Artists
International Auditions in New York and was a winner of the Montreal
Symphony Orchestra competition.
Ms. Acre gave her New York
debut in 1984 at Carnegie Recital Hall, which led to many engagements
across Canada and the United States. She has performed in France,
England, Belgium, Italy and other European countries. Besides
performing internationally as a solo artist, Ms. Acre, a distinguished
chamber musician, has performed in that role numerous times at Lincoln
Center in New York City as well as in many music festivals in North
America and Europe.
After being focused on music from age three,
she turned her focus to raising her two surviving triplet daughters and
her younger son. She is now happily returning to her career and sharing
her love for the piano.
Amira’s playing can be heard online with
six performances posted on YouTube, including the Saint-Saens Concerto
No. 2, recorded at Jordan Hall in Boston, Liszt’s b-minor Sonata with
our 1846 Streicher piano, and Ravel’s Jeux d’eau on our 1877 Erard, recorded during our concerts. You can pick from among them or listen to all six just by clicking here !
We welcome Amira to her third performance in our Historical Piano Concerts series.