Suzana Bartal establishes herself as one of the foremost pianists of her generation. Her playing has been hailed as “brilliant, full of shades and virtuosic” by the Bonner Anzeiger. Recent performances have taken her to prestigious venues such as the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Salle Pleyel and Radio France in Paris, Merkin Hall in New York as well as Milton Court in London and she has made recordings on France Musique, the WDR (West Deutscher Rundfunk) as well as the Danish Radio (DR). Highlights include concerts at the Auditorium Musée d’Orsay, the Festival “Classique au Vert” in Paris, the Palazetto Bru Zane in Venise, the Kaposvar Chamber Music Festival, Schloss Elmau, the Festival de Pâques Aix-en-Provence, the Festival de l’Epau, the Rencontres Musicales Evian, the Festival Berlioz, the Festival de Besançon, the Vichy Opera and the Turku Music Festival (Finland).

In 2018, Suzana Bartal performed on several occasions the complete Liszt “Années de pèlerinage” in three concerts on the same day, performance that has received praiseful reviews. This same year, she opened the season of the Orchestre Avignon Provence with the Second Concerto by Brahms under the baton of Samuel Jean.

Highlights of the 2019 – 2020 season include her debut in the big hall of the Paris Philharmonie performing the Grieg Concerto with the Orchestre Pasdeloup under the baton of Marzena Diakun, a solo recital at the Auditorium Musée du Louvre, as well as concerto, recital and chamber music appearances in the US, China and many European countries.

Her recording of the complete “Années de pèlerinage” by Franz Liszt will be released in 2020 on the label Naïve.

Suzana Bartal will be the new artistic director of the Festival Piano à Riom starting its 34th edition in 2020.

Her first album with solo works by Schumann has been released in March 2016 by Paraty (Harmonia Mundi distribution) and has been warmly received by the critics. The recording was « Coup de coeur » on Radio France Internationale and Bertrand Boissard wrote in the magazine Diapason : “The depth of her touch combines with the richness of the textures (…) the playing is characterized by its softness, seduces by its plasticity (..) assuredly, a musician.”

In January 2015, Suzana made her triumphal debut with the Orchestre Avignon-Province in the Grieg Concerto under the baton of Wolfgang Doerner, as she stepped in very last minute for pianist Marie-Josèphe Jude. Her performance has received critical acclaim: “As soon as she lays her hands on the keyboard, the artist sets up a strongly marked personality. Her touch is sure, she shows perfect technique and plays with absolute simplicity pages of great complexity. Her sound is powerful and luminous (…)” – Le Marseillais.

Suzana Bartal has become the winner of the New York Concert Artists Concerto Competition in 2013 and has made her NYC debut with orchestra in 2014. She was also the winner of the 2012 Woolsey Concerto Competition allowing her to perform under the baton of Peter Oundjian. A recipient of the prestigious scholarship from the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe, Suzana has also been supported by the Fondation Nadia et Lili Boulanger, the ADAMI and the Williamson Foundation.

Suzana’s wide range of repertoire reaches from solo works and concertos to chamber music works, all of which she actively and passionately performs. She has given concerts all around the world: in Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, UK, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, France and Romania as well as the US, China and Japan. Her performances have  been  captured  by  French (France Musique and Radio Classique),  German,  Danish, Hungarian  and  Romanian  radio  and  television  channels.

Suzana is also an enthusiastic advocate of contemporary music and has worked with some of the most significant composers of our day, such as Thomas Adès and Eric Tanguy. She performed the world premiere of Tanguy’s “Rhapsodie” for viola and piano with Lise Berthaud at the Festival de Pâques Aix-en-Provence. This premiere was described as being of a “jubilatory virtuosity” by Thierry Hillériteau (Le Figaro).

Extremely active as a chamber musician, Suzana has performed with violinists Kristóf Baráti, Josef Spacek, Alina Pogostkina, Julia Pusker, Rosanne Philippens, Alexandra Conunova, Alexandra Soumm, Mayu Kishima, Déborah Nemtanu, Guillaume Sutre, violists Lise Berthaud and Adrien Boisseau, cellists Henri Demarquette, István Várdai, Benedict Klöckner, Claudio Bohorquez, Edgar Moreau and Aurélien Pascal, clarinetist Pierre Génisson, as well as the Quatuor Zaïde.

Born in 1986 in Timişoara (Romania) into a Hungarian family, pianist Suzana Bartal started her musical education in her hometown. Only three years later she became a winner of national and international competitions and gave her first solo recital at the age of 12 and had her first concerto apparition at the age of 13. In 2005 she decided to move to France where she studied with Denis Pascal, Pierre Pontier and Florent Boffard in Paris and in Lyon at the CNSMD. Between 2011 and 2014, Suzana has perfected her skills at the Yale School of Music under the guidance of Peter Frankl. She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Yale and was awarded the Harriet Gibbs Memorial Prize for excellency in studies. In 2013 – 2014 Suzana has been a Teaching Fellow at the Yale College.

Many distinguished artists have influenced Suzana’s musical and artistic development, such as: András Schiff, Leon Fleisher, Paul Lewis, Menahem Pressler, Jean-Claude Pennetier or Matti Raekallio, as well as the Ysaÿe Quartet, the Tokyo String Quartet or the Emerson Quartet. She has been invited to take part in the very selective International Musician’s Seminar in Prussia Cove (UK).