AARON JAY KERNIS: (new work)
CHOPIN: Ballade #2
Scherzo #2
Ballade #3
Scherzo #3
RACHMANINOFF: Etudes tableaux, Op. 39, Nos. 1-9

The unique combination of vivacious playing, high technical finesse, and lyrical talent heralds Mihaela Ursuleasa as one of today’s remarkable pianists of her generation. Aptly reflected in a review of her debut with the Bournemouth Symphony in Spring 2003, the critic noted of her Grieg concert, “…a propensity for pounding virtuosity, but tamed with explicit technical mastery”. Her autonomous musical views mirror the dynamic spark of her exceptional technique at the keyboard.

Mihaela Ursuleasa was born in Brasov, Romania in 1978. As a teenager she won second prize at the International Piano Competition in Senigallia, and upon the advice of Claudio Abbado, studied with Prof. Heinz Medjimorec at the Vienna Conservatory. She reaped the fruits of this decision in 1995, when she won the Clara Haskil Competition at age 16. Selected engagements followed: Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto with Claudio Abbado in Vienna, Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor at the International Festival in St. Petersburg, Chopin's Piano Concerto in F minor in Hanover and Munich, and recitals in Rome, Frankfurt, Vienna, Davos and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. In June 1999, she graduated with a diploma cum laude.

The 2006/07 season will open with Ms. Ursuleasa’s recital debut at the Lucerne Festival. In Spring, 2007 she makes her much anticipated return to the London International Piano Series, and Manchester, Antwerp, Utrecht, Madrid, and Bonn also feature in her recital calendar. Having made a spectacular debut recital tour to North America in Spring, 2006, Mihaela Ursuleasa returns in to the U.S. in Fall, 2006 performing recitals in New York’s Lincoln Center, Detroit, Montreal and San Antonio, and performs Chopin’s E Minor Concerto with Fabio Mechetti and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. She also performs concerti with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, Weimar Staatskapelle, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Mihaela Ursuleasa has also made impressive debuts with the Concertgebouw under the direction of Kurt Sanderling, in Paris with the Orchestre National de Paris with Sir Colin Davis, in Salzburg with the Mozarteum Orchestra, with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, and in the U.S. with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Hugh Wolff. She also gave performances with the Cincinnati and Minnesota Orchestras with Paavo Järvi and Osmo Vanska respectively. Her first tour of Germany was undertaken with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Paavo Järvi. Ms. Ursuleasa has also toured with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Sir Neville Marriner, and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra with Neeme Järvi.

Currently resident in Vienna, this important musical capital has provided a significant platform for Mihaela Ursuleasa; most recently in recital at the Musikverein, in 2004/05 in a chamber concert accompanying Angela Georghiu, and as a regular soloist with Vienna Symphony. An ardent chamber musician, she performs frequently with various partners. In the summer of 2004 she appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Davos Musik Festival with Vadim Repin, and the Lockenhaus Festival. Mihaela Ursuleasa has recently been a guest artist at the International Chamber Music Festival in Stavanger, Lars Vogt’s festival “Spannungen” in Heimbach, and the Marlboro Music Festival in the U.S.