{"id":83310,"date":"2022-10-18T12:54:37","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T16:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=83310"},"modified":"2022-10-18T21:40:35","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T01:40:35","slug":"interview-pianist-rossina-grieco-path-koerner-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2022\/10\/18\/interview-pianist-rossina-grieco-path-koerner-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Pianist Rossina Grieco On The Path To Koerner Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rossina
Rossina Grieco (Image courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sponsored<\/em><\/p>\n

Rossina Grieco has been performing to audiences since the age of six, and she\u2019ll be making her Koerner Hall debut as a solo recitalist on November 18 with a program of classical favourites. As a former student at the Glenn Gould School, it\u2019s a homecoming as well as her solo recital debut on the renowned stage.<\/p>\n

From the hectic schedule of a child prodigy with extensive competition wins and performances to Toronto\u2019s stages, Grieco\u2019s path in the classical music world has been a little out of the ordinary. The journey brought her from California to Toronto, where we caught up with her to talk about her background, and, of course, the music.<\/p>\n

About Rossina<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The story begins with family. \u201cMy mom was a concert clarinetist,\u201d Rossina says.<\/p>\n

Grieco was born into a musical family. Her mother, Molly Grieco, was a clarinetist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra as well as a music teacher. It was a love of music that brought her parents together when Molly visited the United States from her native China.<\/p>\n

She recognized Rossina\u2019s talent early, and Rossina started playing piano at the age of four under her mother’s tutelage. She began studies in earnest with Luba Ugorski of the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music not long after. Rossina was performing for audiences<\/a> by the age of six, and played with the San Diego Symphony while still a child, at 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, it was a big splash,\u201d Rossina recalls. Still, she points out that today, child performers are not such a rarity. \u201cProdigies keep getting younger and younger,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Rossina’s career as a child prodigy was busy, including a full-length recital debut at the Athenaeum in LaJolla CA, and appearances on National Public Radio on a program called From the Top<\/em>. Rossina was the youngest soloist to play with the San Diego Young Artists Symphony Orchestra. She performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 2<\/em> with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra at 13, and the audience leapt to their feet to applaud after the first movement.<\/p>\n

What followed was a string of competition wins, including the Bach Festival (2001, 2002, 2003), and the Young Artist Competition of Carnegie Hall in 2001, among others. She’s also performed and competed extensively in China, including a full-house in Shanghai, her mother’s native city. She performed with the Shanghai Symphony, the Oriental Sinfonietta, and the China Philharmonic.<\/p>\n

Back in the US, after a couple of years of study at The Juilliard School at the pre-college level, she came north to study at The Royal Conservatory\u2019s Glenn Gould School in Toronto. \u201cI did six years at the Glenn Gould School.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Glenn Gould School, she won The Ihnatowycz Prize in Piano, the school’s largest prize given to piano students with “exceptional potential”. She took over the award from Jan Lisiecki, and benefited from its full-tuition support for over five years.<\/p>\n

Taking The Next Step<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While studies brought her to Toronto, it\u2019s love that has kept her here. Rossina met her husband, a financier and former RCM student, during her studies, and got married during the pandemic. With restrictions lifted, they had a full wedding ceremony this summer.<\/p>\n

Rossina found herself at the emerging stage of her career, and decided to take ownership of her path in music. While her contemporaries are likely immersed in a flurry of grant proposals and competitions, in an unusual move, she\u2019s presenting her own concert \u2014 but she says she doesn\u2019t understand why more young artists don\u2019t do the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, as somebody who has done everything, and exhausted most typical arenas of how to promote a classical career, you learn that investing and betting on yourself is the best shot you’ll ever have,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt always baffled me as a musician why we let other people be in charge of our trajectory.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say she doesn\u2019t value mentorship or guidance. But, with a large pool of younger musicians eager to leave their mark, there is a nagging sense of letting others dictate potential, as well as being in a constantly competitive mode.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s such a broad space for art. It doesn’t have to be so cutthroat. We’re all taught to fight for that one spot,\u201d she says. It\u2019s a mindset she wanted to step outside of.<\/p>\n

The Shanghai Daily<\/em> referred to Rossina\u2019s style as that of a diva, but it\u2019s a role she has learned to relish. \u201cI’m going to borrow some words from the dean of the Glenn Gould School,\u201d she says with a smile. \u201cHe called me polarizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of the lessons she\u2019s learned. \u201cYou want everybody to like you,\u201d she says. At one point, she tried to please everyone. \u201cBut, going against your own artistic truth, you’re going to lose your own identity,\u201d she says. \u201cI never wanted to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s realistic about audience expectations. \u201cThe landscape of music is always changing,\u201d she notes. Audiences are looking for what\u2019s fresh and new.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, her goal is simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love people to hear my music, and love it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Outside of performance as a soloist, she\u2019s open to the idea of chamber work as well. \u201cI think it’s a good way to learn that you’re not the only person in the world,\u201d she says. The perspective changes from work as a soloist, and stretches artistic abilities. That\u2019s something that remains on her radar for the future.<\/p>\n

Rossina plays Sergei Rachmaninov\u2019s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18<\/em> with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and conductor Maestro G\u00e1bor Tak\u00e1cs-Nagy in 2016.<\/p>\n