Alexandra Dariescu, creator of "The Nutcracker and I," is a trailblazing pianist who demonstrates fearless curiosity in performing a diverse and thought-provoking repertoire; from the staples of Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Rachmaninov and Ravel to the exquisite concerto works by Clara Schumann, Nadia Boulanger, George Enescu and Florence Price, Dariescu stands out as an original voice in the international pianistic scene. In demand as a soloist worldwide, she has performed with eminent orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oslo & Copenhagen Philharmonics, Orchestre National de France, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Vancouver and the Sydney Symphony Orchestras, whilst the list of conductors Dariescu has worked with includes Adam Fischer, Cristian Măcelaru, Alain Altinoglu, Sakari Oramo, John Storgårds, Fabien Gabel, Ryan Bancroft, James Gaffigan, Jonathon Heyward and JoAnn Falletta.

In the 2024/25 season Dariescu makes her debut with the Seattle Symphony, under the baton of Tianyi Lu. She then embarks on an Australian tour alongside Fabien Gabel, making her return to the Melbourne Symphony and debut with the West Australian Symphony Orchestras, followed by recitals in Sydney and Canberra. In Scandinavia, Dariescu makes her anticipated debuts with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Danish Philharmonic Orchestras, whereas in the UK she gives subscription concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Two significant highlights further complement Dariescu’s season: her debut with the London Symphony Orchestra as part of the LSO Discovery series in the education project she co-created with Tim Redmond "Count Me In", and her participation as presenter of the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition, where she supports The Alexandra Dariescu Award for an outstanding performance of a piece by a female composer. This is the first time for such an accolade to be introduced in an international piano competition, underlining Alexandra’s commitment to changing cultures, inspiring the younger generations and promoting gender equality in the classical music industry. The season marks yet another international tour of “The Nutcracker and I”, celebrating its 100th performance at Barbican Centre’s Milton Court. Further presentations take place in Paris at La Seine Musicale, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Opéra de Dijon, Megaron Athens Concert Hall and the Macao International Music Festival.

Testament to her ethos of championing a more inclusive repertoire, recent milestones in Dariescu’s career include opening the 2023/24 season for the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in the UK premiere of Dora Pejačević’s Phantasie Concertante. In the same season, Dariescu gave the world premiere of a new piano concerto written for her by James Lee III - "Shades of Unbroken Dreams" - in honour of the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a Dream” speech, with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic. In 2022, Dariescu made the world premiere recording of a newly discovered piano concerto by Leokadiya Kashperova (1900) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for BBC Radio 3’s acclaimed programme ‘Composer of the Week’. Further discoveries and important premieres of unjustly neglected concertos Dariescu has given include Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie Variée, the recently unearthed piano concerto by George Enescu, Concierto argentino by Alberto Ginastera, Dora Pejačević’s Phantasie Concertante, Doreen Carwithen Concerto for piano and strings and four piano concertos written for Dariescu: Emily Howard’s “Mesmerism”, Daniel Dhondy’s “In Touch”, Iris ter Shiphorst’s “Sometimes” and James Lee III’s “Shades of Unbroken Dreams”.

In 2017, Dariescu took the world by storm with her successful piano recital production “The Nutcracker and I”, an original ground-breaking multimedia performance for piano solo with dance and digital animation, which has since enjoyed international acclaim and has drawn thousands of young audiences into concert halls across Europe, Australia, China, the Emirates and the US, realising Dariescu’s vision of building bridges and making classical music more accessible to the wider public.

Dariescu has released nine albums to critical acclaim, the latest disc being Clara Schumann and Grieg Piano Concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Tianyi Lu. The discography includes a Decca album with Angela Gheorghiu, a Trilogy of Complete Preludes series consisting of Chopin, Dutilleux, Shostakovich, Szymanowski, Messiaen, Faure and Lili Boulanger as well as Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Darrell Ang (Signum Records), in addition to “The Nutcracker and I” audio book.

Alexandra Dariescu is the first ever female Romanian pianist to perform at the Royal Albert Hall and performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Staatsoper Vienna, Konzerthaus Vienna, BOZAR Brussels, Staatsoper Berlin, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Sydney Opera House, Beijing National Centre for Performing Arts, Shanghai Grand Opera, Tokyo Musashino Hall, Dubai Opera, Wigmore, Royal Festival Hall, Cadogan Hall, Barbican amongst many others.

Mentored by Sir András Schiff and Dame Imogen Cooper, Dariescu studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Nelson Goerner, Alexander Melnikov, Dina Parakhina, Mark Ray; at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Ronan O’Hora; and in her hometown Iasi with Mihaela Constantin and Cornelia Apostol. She was a Laureate of the Verbier Festival Academy, receiving the UK’s Women of the Future Award in the Arts and Culture category. Dariescu holds many special accolades including Cultural Ambassador of Romania, Officer of the Romanian Crown from the Royal Family and Young European Leader by Friends of Europe. In 2020, Dariescu received the Order 'Cultural Merit' in the rank of Knight from the Romanian President and became an Associated Member of the Royal Northern College of Music, where she also held the distinguished position of Professor of Piano for two years. From September 2024, Dariescu begins a new tenure as Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Contact

General Management KD SCHMID

Spiros Chatziangelou
+44 20 7395 09-17
spiros.chatziangelou@kdschmid.co.uk

North America

Ann SunHyung Kim
+1 917 306 9718
ann.kim@kdschmid.com

Germany, Austria, Switzerland
Katerina Kanavaki
+49 30 5213 702-23
katerina.kanavaki@kdschmid.de

Artist Coordinator
Robbie Littlejohns
+44 20 7395 09-16
robbie.littlejohns@kdschmid.co.uk