Natalie Tsaldarakis

Overview

Natalie Tsaldarakis is a Greek pianist, based in London, UK since 2005. Mostly known for her appearances premiering new music works and as member of the Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble, Natalie has given hundreds of performances around Europe and the US. As a pianist she has worked with many performers and composers of international standing including Simon Desbrulais, Nadia Lasserson, Lola Perrin, Ratko Delorko, Ian Pace (current PhD supervisor at City), Douglas Finch, Yonti Solomon, Andrea-Lauren Brown, Michael Travlos, Nikos Drellas.

Tracks from the Elements of London CD release with the Ivory Duo Piano Ensemble on Convivium Label were broadcasted on BBC Radio 3, whereas her revival performance of a concerto by the first African-American woman to ever graduate from Yale University's music department was recently featured by WQXR. This same recording earned the pianists an entry in The American Concerto Compedium by Phemister (2017) and was used by Yale University in their short documentary tribute to the composer. Natalie has recorded for the National Greek Radio (ERA-1, ERA-3), and has made appearances on Greek TV as well as UK’s Resonance FM 104.4. Since 2020 she is a Convivium Artist, with a second CD release in October 2021 (For Piano, works for solo and piano duet by British composer Hugh Benham).

Qualifications

1. Master of Music, Royal Holloway University of London, United Kingdom, Sep 2005 – Nov 2007
2. Master of Music, West Chester University of Pa., United States, Sep 1992 – May 1994
3. Bachelor of Arts in Music, American College of Greece, Greece, Sep 1988 – Jun 1992
4. Diploma in Piano Performance, Polymnios Conservatory of Music, Greece, Sep 1987 – Feb 1990

Employment

1. Doctoral researcher, City, University of London, Sep 2016 – present

Memberships of committees

1. Trustee, Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust, Jun 2016 – Apr 2021

Award

1. National Music Honor Society Pi Kappa Lambda- West Chester University of Pa. chapter (1994) Election to membership of the Society of Pi Kappa Lambda by the Sigma Delta Chapter
   By invitation only. Awarded in recognition of excellence in performance. https://www.pikappalambda.org/

Languages

French (can read, write, speak and understand spoken), German (can read, speak and understand spoken), Greek, Modern (1453-) (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review) and Italian (can read, speak and understand spoken).

Title of thesis: Gordon Green (1905-1981) and his Piano Class: Research into Early Twentieth-Century Pianism in Britain, European Traditions, and Issues of Schools and Representation

Sep 2016 – Oct 2023

Summary of research

Gordon Green OBE (1905-1981) was an important cultural figure in the history of pianism in Britain until his death in 1981: a close friend of Alan Rawsthorne, he had numerous pupils among them such important artists as Philip Fowke, Martino Tirimo, Stephen Hough, Gordon-Fergus Thompson, Christian Blackshaw, Martin Roscoe, John Ogdon. Gordon fostered and promoted important cultural liaisons in Manchester, as piano professor of the Royal Manchester College of Music (now known as Royal Northern College of Music-RNCM), in London as professor of the Royal Academy of Music (London, UK), but also at home on 33 Hope Street, Liverpool where he would receive distinguished guests such as writer Olaf Stapledon, actor Robert Donat, British writer and political activist Nancy Cunard, and a stream of musicians of international repute including Sviatoslav Richter, Wilhelm Kempff, and Shura Cherkassky.
Indeed, Green’s cultural significance comes sharper into focus, despite the fragmented nature of existing evidence, when taken together with his broader civic liaisons and activities as a campaigner notably for nuclear disarmament, pacifist, internationalist, and certainly anti-fascist. Taken together his musical and civic dimensions, which seem to stem from a strong moral stance, contribute to a better understanding of his overall output.
Notably there is a vast research gap when it comes to British pianism. The reference to a British piano tradition of any sort is further problematised by the lack of enough published research. Thus, the present research is envisioned as a useful starting point for a wider mapping of pianistic historiography in Britain of the twentieth century, while taking a critical look at methodologies involved in the construction of ‘schools’ and specifically the problematic aspect of assembling the ever-popular teacher-pupil trees in any musicologically meaningful way.
Therefore, my research intends to address Green's role and position in the history of pianism in Britain (1930-1980) with a view to draw comparisons to European schools and traditions stemming from individual studios, conservatoires, or otherwise geographically circumscribed centres of learning. In the process, foreign pianistic traditions present in Britain from mid nineteenth century onwards are also discussed at length. Lastly, the research would like to contribute to and/or amend the British pianistic tradition(s) as they are currently charted by the International Piano Archives at the University of Maryland.

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