Pianist Esther Budiardjo has received considerable acclaim from many respected music critics. Richard Dyer of The Boston Globe wrote, “One marvels at the subtlety and variety of her touch, and sophisticated virtuosity of her fingers and her musical mind.” Harold C. Schonberg of American Record Guide noted, “The performances here are splendid. Budiardjo is a powerful pianist who employs her superb technique with taste.” In addition to winning first prize at the 1996 William Kapell International Piano Competition in Maryland, she was awarded top prizes at the 1993 Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition in Illinois and both the 1998 and the 2000 Palm Beach Invitational International Piano Competition in Florida.
Upcoming concerts in 2010 include a solo recital for Music on Main in Vancouver, Canada, and two performances of Ravel's piano concerto with conductor Michael Alexander and the Cobb Symphony Orchestra in Georgia, USA. Highlights of recent seasons include a performance of Mozart's piano concerto with conductor Miriam Burns and the South Carolina Philharmonic, and a solo recital for Sundays Live at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, during which audiences throughout the world are able to listen in through streaming audio on the Internet.
Ms. Budiardjo’s recordings for the Pro Piano Records label have gained wide international recognition. Her interpretations of Mendelssohn's music in her debut recording prompted the following statement from American Record Guide, “Mendelssohn's piano works were always wonderfully crafted, and when they are played as well as this, they are endlessly enjoyable.” In 2000 Philadelphia Inquirer selected her second recording which features the music of Godowsky and Tansman as one of its top 10 classical CDs. In a glowing review of Ms. Budiardjo’s third recording which features works by Moszkowski and Brahms, Gramophone magazine wrote, “Budiardjo is clearly a pianist to watch.” Her most recent recording is a two-CD compilation of Henselt’s music, in which some of the pieces are available in recorded form for the first time.
In prior seasons Ms. Budiardjo has given solo recitals at the Lincoln Center in New York City, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Michigan, Izumi Hall in Japan, Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre in Malaysia, and various other concert venues around the world. She has made concerto appearances with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra on their tour of France and Italy, Omaha Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Philharmonic, and others. In North America, National Public Radio and CBC Radio have featured her performances in their broadcasts.
Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, Ms. Budiardjo received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and the Presidential Scholar Award from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Her principal teachers have been Wha Kyung Byun, Russell Sherman and Lev Vlasenko. A Walnut Hill School for the Arts graduate, she has attended the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival, Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. Currently she resides in Michigan, USA.
January 2010