Pola Baytelman
Pianist

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"Sound resourceful performer...intelligent, multi-faceted playing." - The Boston Globe

"Baytelman offered a Mozart performance of pure freshness and enchantment...She can play with brilliancy, justice and truthfulness any work she desires." - El Mercurio, Chile

"Few pianists have recorded the exquisite music of Iberia as persuasively and with such finesse."- Clavier

Iberia reste un des sommets de virtuosité et de poésie de la littérature pianistique espagnole "… Baytelman réussit admirablement à exprimer l'intensité des émotions du recueil." - La Scena Musicale

"Baytelman has the kind of talent that stamps a personality upon any concert she plays..." "A formidable pianist, quite the equal of performances by keyboard wizards who go by last name only: Horowitz, Pollini, Ashkenazy." - Albany Times Union

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With sparkling articulation reminiscent of the remarkable Alicia de Larrocha, pianist Pola Baytelman probes deeply to the heart of whatever music she plays. Keeping the composer's intent foremost, she plays with effortless technique, listening always. The press has called her playing "formidable," and yet characterized her as having "a diaphanous touch."

Born in Chile, Baytelman made her debut with the Chilean Symphony Orchestra at 17, and has since played with numerous orchestras, including the Chilean Symphony and Chilean Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston Pops as well as other orchestras. She studied at the University of Chile's National Conservatory before going to the U.S. on a Fulbright grant. In the U.S. she attended the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she studied with Russell Sherman, and later received her doctorate at the University of Texas, Austin, where Nancy Garrett was her teacher. She also worked with Claude Frank and Menahem Pressler.

Baytelman, a Steinway Artist since 1996, has toured extensively, performing with orchestras, in chamber music ensembles and as recitalist in China, Hong Kong, Europe, South America and across the U.S.  An artist-in-residence at Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Baytelman was chosen to present the Moseley Lecture-Recital in 2006, the highest honor Skidmore faculty confers on a colleague.  Baytelman's performances have been broadcast on radio and television in Chile, Australia, the Czech Republic, the United States and China. Highly respected as an artist teacher, her students have been accepted in graduate programs at the New England Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Northwestern University, University of Maryland,  University of Texas, Austin,  and at many music festivals in the US and abroad. She has taught master classes throughout the US, in mainland China, England and Hong Kong.

Baytelman is an active recitalist, and particularly enjoys playing music by women, and by Spanish and Latin American composers. She has long been associated with the music of Isaac Albéniz and is the author of a book on Albéniz's piano music published by Harmonie Park Press in Michigan. Baytelman has also performed Albéniz monumental Iberia in tours of major US cities, and recorded a groundbreaking CD of Albéniz work in 1998 (Elan).  Her latest compact disc of From Chile to Cuba: Latin-American Piano Music was just released this summer by Albany Records. Baytelman's recording of Robert Schumann's Humoreske (2002 Centaur) was listed by American Record Guide as one of the top three performances of the classic work ever made.