Praised by the critics for her fiery temperament, exceptional charisma and great command of her instrument in the romantic and modern repertoires, as well as for the elegance, subtlety and intelligence of her classical interpretations, Brazilian-born pianist Juliana Steinbach is considered as one of the most gifted artists of the young generation.
In the past few years, Juliana Steinbach has performed extensively throughout Europe, as well as in North and South America, Israel and Asia. Following her debut in 2002 with the Israel Symphony Orchestra, she has appeared as a soloist with the Rundfunk Blasorchester Leipzig, Budapest Mav Symphony Orchestra, Freiburg Youth Orchestra, Paris Symphony and Lyric Orchestra, Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, Paris Conservatory Laureates Orchestra... collaborating with conductors such as Mendi Rodan, Jan Cober, László Kovács, Théophanis Kapsopoulos, Michael Cousteau, Sergio Monterisi and François-Xavier Roth. Her performances have taken her from Paris (Auditorium du Louvre, Cité de la Musique, Opéra Bastille, Opéra Garnier, Théâtre Mogador, Théâtre Marigny) to several major European venues (Leipzig Gewandhaus, Hamburg Musikhalle, München Gasteig, Budapest Liszt Academy, Prag Rudolfinum, Firenze Teatro della Pergola and Teatro Comunale, Lisbon Teatro São Luis), as well as to many distinguished festivals (such as Périgord Noir in France, Salzburg in Austria, Bologna Festival and Lago Maggiore in Italy, Santander in Spain, Farsund in Norway). She has performed at the Tel-Aviv Museum in Israel, Lincoln Center in New York, Calgary’s Rozsa Center in Canada, Sala Cecilia Mereiles in Rio de Janeiro and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In 2005 she made her first tour in Asia, with concerts in major venues of Seoul, Manila, Bangkok, Hong-Kong, Yokohama and Tokyo, alongside with a series of master classes given at different universities. Her performances have been broadcasted on such European radio and television channels as France Musique, France Culture, Radio France Internationale, France 3, Arte, Rai.
Laureate of Cziffra, Natexis, Umberto Micheli, Reinhold and Meyer foundations, Juliana Steinbach has been awarded top prizes in several international piano competitions, such as the Artlivre International Piano Competition in São Paulo (Brazil, 2001), the Tel-Hai Performance Prizes (Israel, 2000 and 2001) and the International Young Pianists Competition in Meknès (Morocco, 1996). In France, she has been awarded the FLAME Prize of the UNESCO, the Zonta International Music Scholarship and the Great and Special Prizes of the Forum Musical de Normandie. An avid chamber music player, she won in 2002 the First Prize at the ‘Premio Vittorio Gui’ International Chamber Music Competition in Firenze (Italy) and in 2005 the Beethoven Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition ‘Trio di Trieste’ (Italy), in a duo with French cellist Guillaume Martigné. She also performed these last years with violinists Marina Chiche, Amaury Coeytaux, Stéphanie- Marie Degand, Ivry Gitlis, Saténik Khourdoian, Nemanja Radulovic, Svetlin Roussev, Sayaka Shoji and Ayako Tanaka, cellists Eric-Maria Couturier, Sol Gabetta, Pavel Gomziakov and Béatrice Reibel, flutists Sarah Louvion, Jaime Martin and Virginie Reibel, clarinettists Jérôme Comte and Tibi Cziger, fagottist Klaus Thunemann, pianist Jonas Vitaud, as well as with the Accord, Bennewitz, Kuss, Psophos and Sine Nomine string quartets. Very interested in contemporary music, she gave various premieres and collaborated with composers Jean- Louis Agobet, Yves Chauris, Guillaume Connesson, Thierry Escaich, Balázs Horváth, Fabio Nieder, Matan Daniel Porat and François Sarhan. In 2010, the French festival ‘Aspects des Musiques d’Aujourd’hui’ in Caen entrusted her the performance of Philippe Manoury’s Chryptophonos and Pierre Boulez’s Structures.
In 2003 and 2004 she made two chamber music debut recordings produced by Cultures France, Radio France and the BNP-Paribas Foundation, and she has been supported since then by the French Ministery of Foreign Affairs’ program for the promotion of French musicians around the world. Her discography - which includes three other recordings made for German and French labels between 2001 and 2009 - features various works by Schumann, Brahms, Franck, Ravel, Shostakovich and Messiaen. Her new solo album, ‘Tableaux’, was released in May 2010 by French label Paraty/Integral and presents piano works by Mussorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition) and Debussy (Estampes, L’Isle Joyeuse). In August 2005, Juliana Steinbach launched the ‘Musique en Brionnais’ piano and chamber music festival in France (www.musique-en-brionnais.com). An annual event, it draws an international audience to the exquisite Romanesque churches of Southern Burgundy. A full week of performances and workshops, the festival allows the young pianist to build original programs and to present new projects, in recital and with some of her finest music partners.
Juliana Steinbach began her piano studies in France, having left Brazil when she was only three years old. Following her first years at Lyon Conservatory (CNR), she became a private student of Greek-American pianist Christine Paraschos. After earning a Litterature Baccalaureate, she studied at Paris Conservatory (CNSM), where she graduated with First Prize in piano (2000) and chamber music (2003). In 2002 she was admitted by unanimity into the post-graduate program (Troisième Cycle) as a student of Jacques Rouvier. At this occasion, the Alfred Reinhold Foundation awarded her a Blüthner grand piano. Following her studies in France, she worked regularly with Franco Scala at the Accademia Internazionale del Pianoforte ‘Incontri col Maestro’ in Imola (Italy), with Maria João Pires at her home in Belgais (Portugal), and Pnina Salzman in Tel-Aviv (Israel), besides attending master classes with musicians such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Christoph Eschenbach, Emanuel Krasovsky and Alicia de Larrocha. In May 2007 she graduated from The Juilliard School in New York, where she had been a piano student of Joseph Kalichstein, also receiving regular chamber music coaching from clarinettist Charles Neidich and the members of the Juilliard String Quartet. She currently resides in Paris.
