Alessio Bax, Italian Virtuoso
Sam Holland is an award-winning professor of music and administrator at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. He is the Executive Director of the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy and an author of over 70 critically acclaimed piano method and repertoire collections.
First Prize winner in the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition in 2000, and at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 1997, 31-year-old Italian pianist Alessio Bax has sure-handedly established himself as one of the most accomplished performers in the world. Praised by the international press, his performances have been described as “real music-making that makes its own world on stage and invites the audience in as guests” ( The Independent ), and “successfully combining authority and poetry” ( Daily Telegraph ).
His extensive concerto repertoire has led to appearances with over seventy orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Rome Symphony, and the Tokyo Symphony. He has collaborated with a number of esteemed conductors including Sergiu Commissiona, Alexander Dimitriev, Jonathan Nott, Vernon Handley, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Owain Arwel Hughes, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi, and Sir Simon Rattle.
On an unusually bright Saturday morning last November, Alessio Bax took time from practicing to meet with me in the music office at Southern Methodist University.
For a young pianist who in the next six weeks would perform several concerts in the US (including the Gilmore Festival), tour Japan, record for a week in France, and then embark upon a trans-Russia tour from Moscow to Eastern Siberia, he was astonishingly relaxed and generous with his time and energy.
In an interview frequently punctuated by smiles and laughter, we covered everything from his early training to his victory at the Leeds International Competition, his remarkable relationship with master artist and teacher Joaquín Achúcarro, thoughts on teaching, iPods, Facebook, and more.
This article contains excerpts from that interview. If you find it interesting, you can listen to audio of the complete interview as a podcast. Alessio talks in more detail about many of the same subjects, as well as the Achúcarro Foundation, the Meadows Underground Project, and his rapidly growing career as a collaborative pianist - including his new role with the Lincoln Center Chamber Players.
Podcast of the Interview
This podcast includes the complete interview with Alessio Bax by Sam Holland in November 2008. Interspersed with excerpts from Mr. Bax’s critically acclaimed recording, Baroque Reflections (Warner Bros.), Mr. Bax talks about his early education and training in Italy, his special relationship with Maestro Joaquin Achucarro, his thoughts on competition and how his career has changed since his 2002 victory in the Leeds. He goes on to share insights on collaborative music-making and the future of Classical music in our culture along with some highly entertaining personal anecdotes. Run time: 57 min 30 sec.
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