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Elena Abend
- Teaching Professor, Piano
- Area Head, Piano
- Chamber Music Coach
Education
MM, Piano Performance, The Juilliard School, 1992
Biography
Venezuelan pianist Elena Abend has performed and toured throughout her native country. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Ms. Abend’s performances include Lincoln Center, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, Merkin Concert Hall, the Corcoran Gallery, Chicago Cultural Center, Pabst Theater, Atlanta Historical Society, Teatro Teresa Carreno and the Academy of Music as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Performances in Europe include recitals in London’s Wigmore Hall, The Purcell Room, the Toulouse Conservatoire, Theatre Luxembourg, the University of Glasgow and “Musicales de Montsoreau” concert series in France.
An active chamber musician, Ms. Abend has collaborated at the renowned Marlboro and Ravinia Music Festivals. She has performed on the Frankly Music, Present Music, Milwaukee Musaik, Chamber Music Milwaukee series as well as with the Rembrandt Chamber Players in Chicago. More performances include “Classical Progressions “ at the Wilson Center, “Four Seasons” concert series in California, the Music Institute of Chicago, Washington Island Music Festival, New England Music Festival as soloist with the Snow Pond Chamber players and as guest artist with the Philomusica, Mendelsohn, Fine Arts and Kaia String Quartets.
Recordings include soloist performances with the Filarmonica Nacional in Venezuela, INNOVA recording, Avie label, Albany Records and Urtext Digital Classics (Mexico). Her recording “Fierce Lyricism” is available on several digital music platforms. Ms. Abend has worked on numerous recording and editing projects for the Hal Leonard Corporation. She is the head of the piano area at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she teaches piano and chamber music and has been on the faculty at the New England Music Camp (Maine) and the Collaborative Piano Institute.