Emma Abbate | piano
The Neapolitan pianist Emma Abbate pursues a varied career as a chamber musician and vocal coach, working with some of the finest singers and instrumentalists of her generation. She has performed in duo recitals for international festivals and concert societies in Salzburg, Lisbon, Naples, Ischia, Koscierzyna and Sorrento, and at many prestigious UK venues such as the Wigmore Hall, St George’s in Bristol and for the Aldeburgh Festival.
Described as ‘[...] an amazingly talented pianist’ by the leading Italian magazine Musica, this recording is the latest in a series devoted to twentieth century Italian vocal chamber music. Devised by Emma, it follows L'Infinito for Urania Records with the mezzo-soprano Kader. Emma’s discography includes world-premières of works for cello and piano by Krzysztof Meyer and Algernon Ashton with the cellist Evva Mizerska. Published by Toccata Classics, their performances have been praised by The Strad for their ‘[...] great expressive range and impressive authority’.
Based in London, Emma is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Following her graduation from the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatoire in Naples at the age of only nineteen and an Advanced Diploma from the S. Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome, Emma studied in London with Yonty Solomon. She completed her studies with Geoffrey Pratley and Patsy Toh as a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, from where she was awarded the Postgraduate Diploma in Accompaniment with Distinction. Her many prizes have included the Anglo-Czechoslovak Trust Award, the International Ibla Grand Prize as Distinguished Musician, the Grover Bennett Prize and the AMA Calabria Award. She was also awarded an Italian Literature and Culture degree cum laude from the Federico II University in Naples.