Project Description
Born in 1981 in Lund, Sweden, Carl Petersson began playing the piano at the age of 15. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with José Ribera, and during this time partook in numerous international masterclasses. Petersson was awarded the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes scholarship four years in succession, studying with Pnina Salzman, Viktor Derevianko and Emanuel Krasovsky.
Petersson continues to perform internationally, and has appeared at venues such as the Glenn Gould Studio at the CBC Centre, Toronto, the Shanghai Oriental Art Center and the Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York. He has collaborated with conductors JoAnn Falletta, Kerry Stratton, Jiří Stárek and Niklas Willén, with orchestras such as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kraków Philharmonic, and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. He has participated in international music festivals such as Music and Beyond, Canada, the International Chopin Festival in Antonin, Poland and the Beethoven Festival in Teplice.
In 2013 Petersson received his PhD from the Academy of Music in Kraków, where he assisted Mariola Cieniawa’s class. In 2008 he released an acclaimed recording of von Flotow piano concertos with the Pilsen Philharmonic on Sterling Records, recorded Godowsky’s Java Suite in 2011, and the cello and piano duets of Offenbach and von Flotow in 2012. During his Canadian tour, he made a live recording of Grieg’s Piano Concerto at CBC Radio, releasing an album of the composer’s piano concertos, including Helge Evju’s reimagined version of his unfinished piano concerto, in 2015. In 2016, Petersson released his second album for Grand Piano of world premiere recordings by Per Nørgård, the 2016 Siemens Music Prize winner (GP717).
As a lecturer, Petersson has been invited as a guest speaker to, among others, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the University of Ottawa and the New England Conservatory which have joint programs with Harvard University.
Student & Parent Testimonials
In a very short time, Carl helped me feel more free and confident at the piano. He helped me cast off old-fashioned and unnecessary approaches so that I could progress at an optimal level. I felt he was tapping into my strengths and personal expressive ideas instead of dictating how it must be done bar by bar. This helped me play with more expression and give a more convincing performance. This approach also improved my memory of the score. I highly recommend this teacher.
