BIOGRAPHY
Duo Mahidhara-Fort offers audiences the rare experience of hearing both violin-piano and viola-piano works on the same program. Their repertoire ranges from Baroque dances by Marin Marais to Beethoven, Franck, Fauré, Milhaud and more. Of special interest: French composer Robert Casadesus's Sonata for Viola & Piano, composed in 1928 and yet to be performed in North America.
PALLAVI MAHIDHARA
Indian-American pianist Pallavi Mahidhara made her orchestral debut at the age of 10, performing at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. She is the Second Prize winner of the 69th Geneva International Piano Competition. She has appeared in solo and orchestral concerts across five continents, and has performed at important festivals such as Marlboro Music, Verbier Festival, and Gstaad Menuhin Festival.
Pallavi is the Executive Producer, Writer, and Host of “The Conscious Artist ” a podcast designed to promote Mental Health Awareness for performing artists. She is regularly invited to give masterclasses and workshops at universities and summer programs.
Pallavi holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler (Berlin), and studied with Dimitri Bashkirov at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid).
As the first female Indian pianist to attend these institutions and host a podcast on mental health in Western classical music, she fervently embraces her role as cultural ambassador, artist, and mentor.
She is a Steinway Artist.
“Her narrative dynamic control over sumptuous melodies and gorgeous rippling accompaniments, identify her as an intensely individualistic performer with amazing technique and strength.”
“A born interpreter”
AURÉLIEN FORT PEDERZOLI
Aurélien Fort Pederzoli, a French-born violist/violinist currently residing in the New York City area, has had a rich and varied career in the world of classical music.
A graduate of the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with world-renowned teacher Jean Lenert, Aurélien has been a frequent performer with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Upon relocating to the East Coast, Aurélien found himself collaborating with esteemed ensembles such as the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. —Jack Kukuk, Gold Canyon (AZ) Arts Council
Aurélien was a founding member of two Grammy-nominated ensembles: the ground-breaking Spektral Quartet, Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Chicago, and the Black Oak Ensemble, a string trio, with which he recorded three critically-acclaimed albums on Cedille Records, including "Silenced Voices," an album of Holocaust composers. He was also a founding member of the Chicago Piano Quartet.
“Flamboyant vitality . . . expert performances.”
“Compelling . . . played with fierce eloquence”