Danae Kara

Danae Kara, born on July 27, 1953, in Constantinople, is a renowned Greek classical pianist and educator, particularly celebrated for her performances and promotion of works by Greek modernist composers internationally.

Danae Kara began her musical journey at the age of five in 1958 at the Municipal Conservatory of Constantinople under Friedrich von Statzer, a student of Emil von Sauer and Friedrich Wührer. She moved to Greece in 1966, continuing her studies at the Athens Conservatory with pianist Maria Chairogiorgou-Sigara, a student of Alfredo Casella and Marguerite Long, and composer Konstantinos Kydoniatis for her theoretical education. In 1972, she earned her “Soloist Piano Diploma” and the “Advanced Diploma in Theory” with the distinction of “First Prize” and the “Iphigenia and Andreas Syngrou Gold Medal”.

Kara graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1978 as a scholarship student, earning her Bachelor of Music (BM) and Master of Music (MM). She also served as an assistant professor at the same institution. Her artistic ideology was influenced by her teachers, pianist Jacob Lateiner and composer David Diamond. Additionally, she studied with Ivan Moravec and Nina Svetlanova, a student of Heinrich Neuhaus, inheriting the musical legacy of Isabelle Vengerova through Lateiner.

Kara held her first solo recital at sixteen in Athens (1969) and has since performed internationally across Europe, Latin America, Russia, and the former Soviet Republics. She extensively toured from 1979 to 2009 as a soloist, participating in festivals and concerts with numerous orchestras, including the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, all Greek Orchestras, the London Orchestra, the Bangkok Symphony, the Budapest Symphony, the Lithuanian Symphony, the Servantino Festival Orchestra, the Montpellier National Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi, the Sofia Philharmonic, the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and many more.

She has collaborated with conductors such as Giancarlo Andretta, Matthias Bamert, Hans Graf, John Georgiadis, Philippe Entremont, Miltiadis Caridis, Jakob Kowalski, Alexander Lazarev, Friedemann Layer, Christian Mandeal, Alexander Myrat, Robertas Servenikas, and Vladimir Spivakov.

Kara’s performances have been broadcast live by ERT/NERIT, EBU, Baku Radio & Television, Radio Educación, Radio UNAM, Radio France, France Musique, WDR Germany, WGBH Boston, WQXR-FM New York, Glastonbury Radio, and BBC Radio 3. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with mezzo-soprano Markela Hatziano, bass Christoforos Stamboglis, violinist Hideko Udagawa, and string quartets “Voces”, “Auer”, and “Kroger”.

From 1987 to 2012, she served as an “Artist-In-Residence” at the American College of Greece/Deree.

Her discography, produced with Naxos Records, Universal/Decca Records, Agorá Musica, Philips/PolyGram, Millenium Archives, EMI Classics, and Lyra, has received international acclaim and recognition. Notably, her recordings include “Three Piano Concertos” by Mendelssohn, the “Piano Concerto” by Sicilianos, “Piano Concertos” by Nikos Skalkottas, “62 Sonatas” by Cimarosa, works of Brahms, “Piano Works” by Dimitri Mitropoulos, “Piano Works” by Manos Hadjidakis, among others. She was awarded the “2000 Record Critics’ Award” by the “Union of Greek Theatre and Music Critics”.

For her dedication to bringing neglected works to the forefront, such as Nikos Skalkottas’ monumental “Third Piano Concerto” in Paris in 2003, Kara was honored by the “National Music Council” and a member of “IMC/UNESCO” with the “2003 Greek Music Award”.

Source: Wikipedia