Additional fields of study: Music Theory and Analysis, Jazz Piano and Arts Leadership
*Graduated with Distinction
Isaac Friedhoff-Calvo was born in Barcelona to a family of musicians. Growing up he was immersed in chamber music, playing both piano and cello with his siblings, parents and grandparents. Among all the music being played in the house, the most electrifying was Shostakovich's String Quartet no.7, which his mother and her quartet rehearsed very often. This work, with which he was already fascinated at the age of 8, had a strong impact on his musical and aesthetic development, instilling in him a strong tendency towards 20th century music.
Until the age of 16, he divided his musical studies between both instruments. Soon after deciding to focus solely on piano, he won prizes in several international competitions in Spain, including 1st prize in the International Competition “Ciutat de Carlet” (València, Spain).
Since then, he has performed extensively as a soloist, recitalist and collaborative pianist in Europe, United States, China and South America, appearing in halls like the Mondavi Center for the Arts in Davis (California) and the Palau de la Música Catalana in his hometown of Barcelona (Spain).
Mr. Friedhoff’s focus on the piano repertoire of his home country has led him to present numerous recitals and lectures on Spanish and Catalan music throughout the United States. His most recent tour of music by Albéniz and Mompou included a live broadcast noon concert at the Ann E. Pitzer Center (Davis, California), a lecture recital at the Brain and Creativity Institute (Los Angeles), and a recital and public masterclass at Classic Pianos (Portland, Oregon).
As a soloist he has appeared with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Washington, USA) under the baton of Salvador Brotons, as well as with the UCDavis Symphony under Christian Baldini. As a collaborative pianist, he has participated in masterclasses and coachings by the London Haydn String Quartet, Pamela Frank, Midori Goto, Glenn Dicterow, Christian Tetzlaff, Janos Starker and Mark Kaplan.
Mr. Friedhoff was invited as a faculty member to the 2019 Beijing Summer Music Festival, where he taught and performed both classical and jazz music. He is also a co-founder of the SoCal International Piano Competition and the 23rd Street Piano Festival in Los Angeles. His transcriptions and recordings of Puccini arias have appeared in the soundtrack of the American film “House of Last Things”, and his chamber music concerts have been broadcasted by Catalunya Música Radio.
During his studies in the US, his main mentors have been Antoinette Perry, Émile Naoumoff, Edward Auer, and David Arnay for jazz piano. He has also performed in masterclasses led by John Perry and Jonathan Biss, and has had private coachings with Gabriel Kwok and Manchun Chen.
Prior to his college years, he studied at L'Escola de Música de Barcelona, with Albert Attenelle and Maria LLuisa Reñaga, learning the tradition of piano playing handed down by Frank Marshall and Enric Granados.
He is currently based in Istanbul (Turkey) and works as a freelance musician and teacher. He served as Assistant Professor at Bahçeşehir University (BAU) Konservatuar (2022-23), as well as a piano instructor at BAU Çocuk Konservatuarı (Pre-college Conservatory) (2021-2023).