Julio Elizalde
About this Artist
Praised as a musician of “compelling artistry and power” by The Seattle Times, the gifted Hispanic-American pianist Julio Elizalde is a multifaceted artist who enjoys a unique career as soloist, collaborator, curator, and educator. Julio has performed at many of the world’s major music centers including Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco), Koerner Hall (Toronto), Alice Tully Hall (New York), Kioi Hall (Tokyo), Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), St. Paul’s Knightsbridge (London), National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing), Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), National Concert Hall (Taipei), and the Esplanade Concert Hall (Singapore), among many others.
For nearly a decade, he has appeared as recital partner to famed violinists Ray Chen and Sarah Chang, and has collaborated with renowned artists such as Pablo Ferrández, Kian Soltani, Pamela Frank, Robert McDonald, and members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Takács, Kronos, Brentano, St. Lawrence, and Dover string quartets. As a founding member of the N-E-W Trio with violinist Andrew Wan and cellist Gal Nyska, he won the grand prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and received the Harvard Musical Association’s prestigious Arthur W. Foote Prize. As part of the Trio, he performed for notable American politicians including President Bill Clinton and Secretaries of State Condoleeza Rice and Henry Kissinger.
A champion of new music, Julio has collaborated with composers such as Osvaldo Golijov, Stephen Hough, Adolphus Hailstork, and Michael Stephen Brown. In 2013, Julio was a featured artist on the soundtrack composed by Academy Award-winner Howard Shore for the film Jimmy P, starring Benicio Del Toro.
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Julio is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he earned a bachelor’s degree with honors as a student of Paul Hersh. He holds master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Joseph Kalichstein, and Robert McDonald. Since 2014, Julio has served as artistic director of the Olympic Music Festival outside Seattle, Washington, and he currently teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.