Sally Pinkas

|Professor
Academic Appointments
  • Professor of Music

  • Pianist-in-Residence, Hopkins Center

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Following her London debut at Wigmore Hall, Israeli-born pianist Sally Pinkas has garnered universal praise as an eloquent and ardent performer. Among highlights are appearances with the Boston Pops, the Aspen Philharmonia and New York's Jupiter Symphony, and at the festivals of Marlboro, Rockport (USA), Pontlevoy (France), Havana (Cuba) and HCMC Conservatory (Vietnam). A first-ever performance of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in Bandung (Indonesia's 2nd largest city), premieres of George Rochberg's monumental Circles of Fire for two pianos in Russia, Israel and Nigeria, and a revival of rarely-heard 19th-century Filipino Salon Music in its birth city Manila, all exemplify Pinkas' wide-ranging repertoire. Through her travel she shares it generously with enthusiastic audiences and young pianists.

Equally at home in a recording studio, Sally's discography features works by Mozart, Schumann, Fauré, Debussy, Gaubert, Martinů, Rochberg, Shapiro, Pinkham and Wolff, released on the MSR, Centaur, Naxos, Toccata Classics and Mode labels. Her most recent CD release of Sonatas by Shostakovich and Bridge was hailed as "…A mandatory purchase for all pianophiles: two major works, in performances of utter power… ideal melding of strength and emotional pliancy…" by Fanfare Magazine. A CD featuring Piano Quintets by Miguel del Aguila (with Cuarteto Latinoamericano) is forthcoming on Urtext Digital Classics.

Pinkas tours regularly as member of Ensemble Schumann and the Hirsch-Pinkas Duo (with her husband pianist Evan Hirsch), and collaborates frequently with the Adaskin String Trio, the Apple Hill String Quartet and Cuarteto Latinoamericano. Recent travel took her to Madrid and Barcelona, where she presented solo recitals, and to Rio de Janeiro, where the Hirsch-Pinkas Duo made its Brazil debut in the famed Cecília Meireles Hall. She will be returning to China with Ensemble Schumann in 2023.

Pinkas holds performance degrees from Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music, and a Ph.D. in Composition from Brandeis University. Her principal teachers were Russell Sherman, George Sebok, Luise Vosgerchian and Genia Bar-Niv (piano), Sergiu Natra (composition), and Robert Koff (chamber music). Pianist-in-residence at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, she is Professor of Music at Dartmouth's Music Department.

Contact

603-646-2058
Sudikoff Lab, Room 114
HB 6187

Education

  • B.A. Brandeis University
  • M.M. Indiana University
  • New England Conservatory Artist Diploma
  • Ph.D. Brandeis University

Selected Publications

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Works In Progress

Romantic Trios II: Bruch & Herzogenberg

Ensemble Schumann, forthcoming 2024, MSR