Enrico Elisi

Enrico Elisi, a laureate of the Oporto International Competition (Portugal) and the Premio Venezia (Italy), has earned international recognition for his performances across four continents. 

Praised for his “mastery of elegance, refinement, and fantasy” (La Nueva España) and “remarkable sensitivity, imagination, and polish” (Baltimore Sun), he has given recitals throughout Europe at venues such as the Bemberg Museum in Toulouse (France), Centro del Carmen in Valencia (Spain), Dante Society in Bonn, Wolfsburg Castle, and Kiel Universität’s Bach-Saal (Germany), Cyril and Methodius Foundation in Piestany (Slovakia). 

Audiences in his native Italy heard him at historic venues such as La Fenice Theatre (Venice), Dante’s Church, the Hall of the Five Hundred in the Medici-owned Palazzo Vecchio and Sala del Buonumore (Florence), the Pavarotti-Freni Opera House (Modena), the Bibiena Theatre and Palazzo Guerreri-Gonzaga (Mantua), the Sala dei Giganti (Padua), the Sala degli Ostaggi mi(Crema), the Teatro Comunale, the Archaeological Museum, and the Sala Bossi (Bologna), as well as the Sant’Anna dei Lombardi Church (Naples).

In Asia, he performed to acclaim in Japan, South Korea (IBK Hall, Seoul), China (Beijing Steinway Hall), Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, and in the Americas, in Peru (Centro Cultural de España, Lima), Canada (Banff Centre) and at notable venues in the United States, including the National Gallery of Art, the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC, the New York Public and Morgan Libraries, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, and the Chopin Society in San Francisco.

Upcoming projects will feature performances of Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra with John Owings and the TCU Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 with the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, a recital program of Beethoven Piano Sonatas (USA), and the Amy Beach Piano Quintet (Switzerland). 

Aiming for a diverse musical repertoire, he recently co-founded the Elisi Pan Piano Duo with London-based RCM faculty Mengyang Pan. The duo is committed to providing an eclectic musical experience, featuring a dynamic alternation between repertoire for two pianos, those for four hands, and solo compositions. In 2024, the duo will present recitals across Italy, England, Taiwan, Indonesia, the USA, and China, offering a rich mosaic of musical styles.

Elisi has collaborated with several orchestras in the USA, Italy, Portugal, and Indonesia and has been featured in TV broadcasts (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal and WPSU in the USA) and on radio stations in Europe and the USA.   

He performed at the University of Toronto New Music Festival and premiered solo and chamber compositions by Paul Chihara, whose chamber work, Two Images, is featured on Albany Records. The anticipated release of Angelus and Three Songs by Peruvian composer J. V. Grossmann are notable additions to Elisi’s diverse new music repertoire.

A frequent guest at music festivals worldwide, Elisi performed and conducted masterclasses at Cincinnati’s “Art of the Piano,” Interlochen Center for the Arts, Texas State, Artciál, RPPF, and the Chautauqua Institution in the USA; VIPA Valencia in Spain; Todi Music Masters, Conero and Amalfi Coast Festivals in Italy; Borromeo in Switzerland; The Thinking Pianist in England; and the Ameri-China Foundation and Sichuan International Piano Festival in China. In 2024, he will be on the faculty at the Vancouver Piano Sessions.

Dr. Elisi has conducted workshops for the Pinerolo Accademia di Musica, Royal College of Music, and Royal Northern College and was a Yellowbarn Festival Artist-in-Residence.

He has taught masterclasses at prestigious institutions across the United States, Canada, Peru, Denmark, Italy, England, Turkey, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea.   

Dr. Elisi holds the Harold D. and Imogene Herndon Endowed Professorship of Music in Piano at Texas Christian University. Throughout his distinguished teaching career, he has taught at the University of Toronto (which has recognized him with the Teaching Award), the Eastman School, Penn State University, and UNLV. He was also a visiting professor at Hanyang University and a Leading Scholar at Ewha Womans University (Korea). His students have won prizes and pursued successful careers; many hold teaching posts.  

Elisi’s mentors include Leon Fleisher, Lazar Berman, Alexander Lonquich, Franco Scala, Boris Petrushansky, and Giuseppe Fricelli. His musical education flourished at the Conservatories of Bologna and Florence, the International Piano Academy of Imola, the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and the Taos and Ravinia Festivals, where he delved into chamber music with Robert McDonald, Menahem Pressler, Gilbert Kalish, and Claude Frank.

He became a citizen of the United States of America in 2012 and is a Steinway Artist.