Celebrated for launching a “Fortepiano Renaissance” (The WholeNote), Canadian pianist Andrea Botticelli combines captivating artistic sensibility with insightful historical research. She is a performer acclaimed for her originality and sensitivity performing on numerous keyboard instruments from the fortepiano, clavichord, and harpsichord to the modern piano. An innovative and versatile artist, she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across Canada and abroad in England, France, Italy, Spain, and the United States. Her debut album “Stimme aus der Ferne – A Voice From the Distance” of solo works recorded on an 1830’s Viennese fortepiano model has been praised as “profoundly stirring and exciting” (Take Effect) and “an immensely poised debut…the recording encompasses the full range of human emotion” (Textura). Andrea’s affinity for revealing the depths in lesser-known music was praised: “Botticelli’s firmly etched and dynamic reading of Clara Schumann’s Notturno takes top honors” (Classics Today). Andrea’s ability to breathe new life into historical practices and to coax the expressive voice from each different instrument result in performances with a unique sound and an individual expressive style. She has recently presented concerts across Canada performing on fortepiano models from the 18th and 19th centuries, introducing performance on the instruments and historically informed methods to new audiences. Her recent album release garnered praise for this distinctive musical quality: “This disc is a delight. Not only does Botticelli deliver a compelling performance – breathing new life into traditional repertoire – but she proves without a doubt that Romantic-period repertoire is as satisfying to the ear when played on an early pianoforte as it is on a modern concert grand” (The WholeNote).
For her performances and recordings on various keyboard instruments, Andrea has received numerous awards and grants from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada Council for the Arts, Early Music America, National Music Centre, Ontario Arts Council, Stingray Music, and the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies. Performance projects from past seasons have included appearances at York Region Chamber Music, the Scaramella series, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and the University of Western Ontario.
Andrea’s historical keyboard research has included visits to collections, museums, and artisans around the world in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary,
Italy, and the United States. She has undertaken extended residencies exploring the historical keyboards at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Studio Bell of the National Music Centre in Canada. During her doctoral studies in piano at the University of Toronto, Andrea was also an exchange student at McGill University studying performance practice and fortepiano performance. Her dissertation explores the evolution of Beethoven’s piano writing and his treatment of piano sonority in conjunction with his contemporary Viennese, French, and English instruments. Andrea’s personal collection of keyboard instruments includes a copy of an early 17th century Venetian harpsichord made by David Jensen, a copy of a 5-octave clavichord by Friederici (1774) made by Renée Geoffrion and an original fortepiano by Conrad Graf (1835) restored by Edwin Beunk.
A dedicated teacher, Andrea has taught and lectured about performance practice and fortepiano performance at the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario. She teaches “historically informed pedagogy,” introducing students on all keyboard instruments to aspects of performance such as preluding, embellishments, and cadenza-writing. Some of Andrea’s earliest students have been accepted into professional music programs at McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario, and Wilfrid Laurier University. Andrea’s students have achieved outstanding success, most notably the 2016 and 2015 Canadian Music Competition (CMC) Grand Prizes and multiple CMC national championships, as well as making Carnegie Hall, Koerner Hall, and Classical 96.3 FM debuts. She taught at the Glenn Gould School, the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy of the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), and the Oscar Peterson School of Music for 13 years before moving her private teaching studio to her home in Toronto. Andrea is also a frequent adjudicator and a senior member of the RCM College of Examiners.
Testimonial by one of the teachers Lisa Raposa Millar:
“The masterclasses with Dr. Michael Esch were top-notch. He easily drew parallels between piano technique and a number of disciplines including literature, baking, and Tai chi and demonstrated snippets from an impressive range of repertoire. Above all, what stood out to me more than anything was his ability to connect with each student and bring out their musical best. I have already received thanks from a number of parents for these classes and appreciate the constant enthusiasm which he displayed over 6 hours of teaching!”
