Tunde Krasznai Pianist

BIOGRAPHY

Tünde-Ilona Krasznai
Pianist

Tünde-Ilona Krasznai, Hungarian pianist based in Fairfield CT, (USA) was born in Klausenburg (Transylvania) in May 21st 1983, and first studied piano at the Sigismund Toduta Liceul de Musica in Klausenburg with Professor Papp Tibor and at the Weiner Leó Conservatory of Music in Budapest with Dr. Entzné Tőkés Emese.

She was then admitted to the renowned Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, graduating in 2006 with a Masters Degree in Piano Performance and Teaching. While at the Academy she studied with Balázs Szokolay, Attila Némethy and Balázs Réti, took part in Master Classes with Gergely Bogányi, György Sebők, Dimitri Bashkirov and Leslie Howard, and also continued her work as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and teacher.

As a result of her outstanding achievements she was awarded the prestigious Terplan Family Foundation Scholarship to continue her piano studies in the United States at Montclair State University (New Jersey) with Professor David Witten.

In 2008 she signed a contract with Steinway and Sons in the Middle East. As a Steinway Artist she was the first to officially present the Steinway Piano in concert in Dubai. She also gave several piano recitals across the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha).

In the same year she received an additional scholarship for further postgraduate studies at the John J. Cali School of Music in Montclair State University, supplemented by a second Terplan Family Foundation scholarship. In addition to further study with Professor David Witten she also studied chamber music with the internationally known Shanghai Quartet. In May of 2009 she received her Performer's Certificate from Montclair State.

Ms. Tünde Krasznai participated in piano competitions from the age of 10. She won the J.S. Bach International Competition in her home town at the age of 11. In 2000 she was awarded the Special Prize and Golden Rank in the Silver Bells International Piano Competition in the Ukraine. She placed first two times in the Budapest Piano Competition. At the Liszt Academy Competition she received Honorable Mention for the Best Chopin Interpretation.

She has performed piano concertos with orchestra in Hungary and been engaged as a soloist in Hungary, Transylvania, Germany, Italy, Greece, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Canada, Washington D.C., Miami, Sarasota, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and in Seattle's and New York's Steinway Hall.

In 2009, at the invitation and sponsorship of Steinway and Sons and under the Art Direction of Gergely Bogányi, she recorded in Budapest two CD's, a “Chopin Album” and “Romantic Bouquet”, including music of Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Scriabin, and Rachmaninoff.

During November of 2009 she presented on a new Steinway concert grand an exclusive gala concert in the newly built Congress Center in Heidenheim (Germany) for an audience of some 1600 listeners. During 2009 she also performed as a Steinway Pianist in the Middle East, performing for a master class held by Lang Lang in the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

In 2012 she was a guest professor in the LASALLE College of Arts in Singapore. In June of 2012, after a highly successful solo recital in the Botanic Gardens organized by Yamaha and the Hungarian, Romanian, and Polish embassies in Singapore, she was designated by the National Critics Choice as the“Best New Pianist Discovery in South East Asia”. That same year she established her music education company - the Prodigy Pianist Pte. Ltd. - in Singapore.

In July 2013 she was invited by Paolo Fazioli to Sacile (Italy) to the renowned Fazioli Piano Factory and Concert Hall. In 2013 she received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies in University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with Professor Inna Faliks, where she received her second Masters Degree in 2015, and served as a Teaching Associate. With the collaboration of the Neuroscience Department she pursued music therapy practices as well.

In October 2013 she performed for János Áder, the President of Hungary, in a Hungarian National Day Ceremony held in Woodside Priory Theater, Portola Valley (San Francisco).

In September 2014 she was invited to perform live at the National Radio in Budapest, which was then broadcast by the National Television in Budapest. Currently she lives in Fairfield, Connecticut where she directs her newly established institute, The Prodigy Piano and Art School, and travels as a performer for recitals.